Wings of War
by Hiccup1989
Summary: AU: The story of small unit in the 10th Squadron of the BAF (Berkian Air Force) aka the Dragon Riders. This is the tale of their heroism and courage as they aid the Allies during World War 2. From the beginning to the end where people change, bonds of brotherhood are made and relationships strained as the horrors of war impacts all. They are the greatest pilots in the world.
1. Chapter 1

**Wings Of War**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

 **June 1939 – Camp Edge**

It's a typical day on Berk. Cloudy, with a risk of fog or rain. Possibly even both. A small squadron of Pilot Trainees are practising drills in the middle of Camp Edge's parade square and a stocky sergeant with a big moustache is issuing orders.

Now you may be wondering what exactly Camp Edge is. Camp Edge is the primary training base on Berk. The world's greatest fighter pilot's come out of this camp. Not only are these pilot's a fighting force in the sky, but they are just as deadly on the ground and on the water. The camp isn't overly huge with an administration building, officers' quarter, a few different soldiers' barracks, parade square and fields for different drills.

A grey bus pulls up to the gate where an MP stands guard. Hanging out the window, the bus driver growls. "Bringin' in new recruits!"

The MP nods and lifts the gate, signalling the driver in. The bus lurches forward and the gate closes behind it. Eager new recruits peer out the dirty panes of glass, watching the pilot trainees in the parade square.

"Hey there's Uncle Henrik." A young skinny blond man points at the sergeant in the parade square. The young man is Tuffnut Thorston. A kid at heart with the determination to become a great pilot of Berk. He also has a great love for all things destructive.

"Oh yeah." The blond girl sitting beside him, who is nearly his mirror image stands and quickly lowers the window. "Uncle Henrik!"

"Sit your ass down! You think this is elementary school or what?!" the driver roars.

She sits down quickly. This is Ruffnut Thorston. Twin to Tuffnut. Older by 5 minutes which she constantly reminds him of in a manner that makes it sound like she's 5 years older than him. She also shares him love for destruction. She wishes to one day fly a bomber. Not a huge one but a nimble fighter-bomber.

"Haha. You got in shit." Tuff pokes fun at his sister.

The brakes on the bus screech to a stop. "Alright ladies! Welcome to your new home! Now get the hell off my bus!"

"Who the hell pissed in his oatmeal." Tuff whispers to his sister.

She grins. "He's probably a pilot reject and now stuck in that shitty job."

New recruits stand and begin to shuffle off the bus with duffle bags in tow. The only possessions they're allowed to take with them. The twins step outside and join the growing circle of other recruits.

"Hey! Great to see I'm not the only girl here in this sausage fest." Ruffnut says as she steps up beside another blond girl. This girl is slimmer with a more athletic build than Ruff. Her hair is braided in an intricate looking design.

"Following in the footsteps of my Uncle Finn Hofferson." The blond tells her with a smile.

"Your uncle is Finn Hofferson?" Tuff says loudly, causing other recruits to turn and being to circle around, wanting to hear about the legendary flying ace from the Great War.

"He was my uncle, yes."

"THE Fearless Finn Hofferson?!"

Murmurs are going around the crowd now as the other recruits are circling in tighter hoping to hear stories of Finn Hofferson.

"Yes. He was my uncle." The girl says again, this time with a hint of annoyance in her voice. This is Astrid Hofferson. A very attractive girl with fury in her bright blue eyes, she is the best at everything she does and she makes damn sure of it. Astrid is a true independent woman who needs no man to fight her battles.

"That is so awesome!" Someone murmurs from the crowd.

"Attention." A loud boisterous voice shouts.

Everyone comes to attention or at least what they believe to be attention, seeing as this is their first day there.

A practically machine of a man hobbles forward. A wooden peg instead of a right leg and a wooden hand where his left hand should be, he is not a pretty sight. His exceptionally long braided blonde mustache and unibrow doesn't do him any favours.

"That's Gobber the Belch!" A big blonde boy states with excitement. The boy looks more like a chubby man child than a true adult but underneath that calm demeanor is an aggression that could be called upon when provoked enough. Think a cat trapped in a corner.

"Did I give you permission to talk!" Gobber shouts, causing the young lads enough to grow wide with fear.

"No." He answers weakly.

"That's a no Sir!" Gobber bellows.

"No Sir!" the boy shouts.

"What is your name cadet?" Gobber snarls in the face of the chubby boy who now looks like he's about to shit his pants from fear.

"Fishlegs Ingerman, Sir!"

"You realize that Fish don't have legs, don't you cadet?" Gobber continues to haze the boy.

"Yes Sir!"

"Judging by the look of those legs, I'm curious to see how you do running up Edge mountain." Gobber continues. "Now get down and give me 20."

"Sir?" Fishlegs isn't sure if he's being serious or not. After all they just met the man.

"Did I stutter Cadet Ingerman?! Gobber shouts.

Fishlegs drops to the ground and begins his push ups. He makes it through five before he really starts struggling. Why hadn't he worked out before joining the air force?

"Anyone else wish to speak out of turn?" Gobber eyes up the rest of the new recruits.

A tall lanky soldier walks across the parade square carrying a clipboard. He trips over his feet, nearly falling flat on his face but manages to catch himself. Barely.

A snicker is heard amongst the new recruits but quickly stops when Gobber turns on them.

"Who laughed!?" Gobber bellows as he gives them all the evil eye.

The young man comes to a halt next to Gobber and gives him a salute.

"Commander Haddock. That my list of names for the new recruits?" Gobber says in a more calm mode.

"Twenty." Fishlegs pants. Heavily winded, he returns to his feet.

"That it is General." Commander Haddock hands over the clip board.

"This is Commander Hiccup Haddock." Gobber introduces him to the recruits. "You will see a lot of him around here as he practically runs the place."

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Tall and scrawny were the first words that come to mind when you see him. He has auburn coloured hair that's impossible to tame and deep green eyes that could stare in to your soul. A small scar is on his face just below his lip. His facial expression always seems to hint that there is much going on inside his head.

Gobber flips up the page on the clipboard and scans through the list of names quickly before letting the page fall. "I'm going to call out names. Those of you called out will follow Commander Haddock to your barracks. Those left over will come with me."

He proceeds to go through the list. Astrid Hofferson, Ruffnut Thorston, Tuffnut Thorston, Fishlegs Ingerman, Snotlout Jorgenson (to which he adds the mild comment of "Ah. SPitelout's young lad.") Starkard Ack, Sven Silentson, and a few other names are called.

"Right this way." Hiccup announces to the new recruits.

The group falls out of their positions and follows Hiccup across the gravel parade square.

"So what do you do around here fishbone?" Snotlout taunts Hiccup.

Snotlout was a stocky built short fella with an obnoxious attitude and an ego that matches the size of his muscles. He has brown hair and faded blue eyes. One thing about Snotlout that bothered Hiccup though was that he was family. A cousin of his. First cousins actually. Their dads' being brothers and all, Hiccup never understood why they didn't share a last name but when he questioned his father about it he always got the same answer. "It's complicated. Don't ask."

It's Commander Haddock, Snotlout and you know what I do around here." Hiccup attempts to keep his annoyance out of his voice. Snotlout was always good at stepping on his nerves.

"I heard that you're not even a real pilot. More like a glorified secretary with a fancy title." Snotlout glances around at the other recruits hoping for some validation but none of them say anything.

Tuffnut snickers a little and that's enough for Snotlout to keep going. "You're never going to be a pilot. Always stuck down here with your nose stuck in a clipboard."

"That's enough Snotlout!"

His mouth snaps shut and eyes grow wide. "Y-Y-Yes dad." He stammers.

Lieutenant General Spitelout Jorgenson marches across to meet them.

"These must be the new recruits." He says calmly.

Astrid salutes the man but the others seemingly forget in their awe of the World War 1 fighter pilot legend.

"Where's your training?! Not one of ye except for the lass there are going to salute a Lieutenant General?" Spitelout shouts.

Hands snap up quickly as they give the man their best attempt at a salute.

"That's more like it!" Spitelout booms. "As you were Commander Haddock."

Spitelout was a large man. Built similar to Gobber but with more muscle and less belly. He has hair similar to Snotlout's but closer to black. He also sported a well-groomed beard.

They arrive at a small barracks. It's a roughly built wooden structure. In warmer climates it might have even been built without insulation or windows but this was Berk and on Berk winter was practically three seasons out of four. That being said, even a barracks that was built in haste needed to be insulated.

"This will be your new home for the foreseeable future." Hiccup drones. This obviously wasn't his first time introducing trainees to their barracks.

"Pick your cot. No fighting over them or you will be sent home. You each get a trunk for personal belongings at the foot of your cot. Daily inspections take place in the morning however random inspections can happen at any time so don't be a pig. Hiccup tells them in a very monotone voice filled with boredom.

Meanwhile, Astrid tosses her backpack down on the bed furthest from the door. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, not heeding Hiccup's warning are fighting over a cot.

"This is mine. That's yours. It's a girls' bed." Tuffnut tell his sister.

She slams his face down on the bedframe. "You're right. That bed is your bed. It has blood on it."

She tosses herself down on the bed next to his. Tuff looks around the room, slightly dazed from the hit in the head. Blood runs down from a small cut on his forehead.

"Get settles. Gobber will meet you out front in fifteen." Hiccup announces as he heads out the door.

* * *

"Now that you've gotten settled in your bunks, it's time to get your uniforms and every pilot and everything that's needed for training our world class pilots. This will be your first step in becoming the best fighting force in the world." Gobber paces in front of the new recruits. "Are there any questions before we go over to supply?"

No one speaks as anticipation sits heavy in the air.

* * *

Hiccup sits behind a desk with yet another list. There are other staff bustling around behind him gathering things. Field gear, PT gear, uniforms, helmets and the like.

"Name?" Hiccup asks without looking up.

"Mulch Odinson." A stocky man of average height with a massive brown beard standing before him says.

A soldier behind Hiccup hands Mulch a perfectly folded uniform. It's quickly followed up with PT gear and field equipment. Last but not least a steel helmet.

"Next." Hiccup announces as he checks off the name. Mulch shuffles off.

"Astrid Hofferson."

Hiccup scans up his list till he spots Astrid's name. He checks it off and looks up to see the biggest most beautiful eyes that he's ever seen. He wants to say something. Anything. Unfortunately his mouth won't work and his chance is lost as she moves on and a familiar face takes her place.

"Hey cuz!" Snotlout puts an elbow down on the table.

"Snotlout." Hiccup nods.

"Still stuck being a desk jockey I see." Snotlout says.

"Everyone has a job to do." Hiccup tells him while checking a name off the list.

"I guess some of us are meant to be cool and some of us are meant to be lame. Snotlout takes his stuff and heads off.

* * *

The new recruits sit in the mess hall munching down on their supper.

"This slop doesn't look too appetizing." Tuffnut sits down at the table and pokes his spoon at the concoction.

Fishlegs is digging in like it's the best food in the world. "If you can get past the taste, it's got all the necessary nutrients to keep a pilot healthy and in tip top fighting shape." A piece of food shoots out of his mouth landing on Ruffnut across the table.

"Dude! I barely want my own food. I don't need your too." Ruff wipes her face, slightly disgusted.

"Sorry." Fishlegs apologizes with another full mouth.

Astrid stirs her food, eyeing it curiously. She knew she needed to eat but she was also dreading the task.

"Want some Frank's Red Hot? I put that shit on everything." Snotlout pipes up as he holds out the bottle to her.

"That is the best slogan I've ever heard." Tuffnut says in awe.

"I don't think that's their slogan idiot." Snotlout grumbles.

"Do you just carry that around just so you can say that?" Astrid frowns.

"He totally does!" Tuffnut guffaws.

"No. Dad recommended it. It comes from the United States. Says it'll make the food edible." Snotlout tells them as he pours some in to his slop and stirs it up. "Unfortunately it can't do anything for the looks."

The previously grey slop is now a murky red. He scoops up a spoonful and slowly brings it to his mouth as he is still unsure of what to expect. All eyes are on him as he eats it.

Snotlout tests the taste before making his judgement. "It's actually not bad. Thank you dad."He says in a rather impressed tone.

The others begin to fight for the bottle.

* * *

With their slop mixed with some Frank's Red Hot, they start to eat and chat. "Why do you think he eats alone?" Astrid asks Ruff as she eats a spoonful.

Ruffnut looks up to see who Astrid is talking about. It's Hiccup. Sitting alone in a corner eating by himself quietly.

"Who cares? He's an officer and we're not. They should eat in a mess hall of their own. Let him eat alone." Ruffnut stuffs in another mouthful of slop. She glances at Snotlout. "Thank your father for me Snot. He's a genius."

"Yeah! It made it so good, I could almost for back for seconds." Tuff manages to say with his cheeks full of food. "Almost."

The doors to the mess hall burst open and heavy footsteps enter. Someone yells. "Attention!"

Everyone jumps to their feet and stand at attention.

"As you were." The large bearded man booms.

He's the largest man Astrid has ever laid her eyes on. He was a practically a mountain. There was no mistaking who he was as he was the most recognizable man on Berk, being their leader and all. Stoick the Vast, chief of Berk and Field Marshall of all their military forces which primarily consisted of pilots. He had a massive reddish brown beard with white hairs beginning to pepper it that had multiple braids throughout it.

"Who's that?" Tuffnut whispers.

Astrid rolls her eyes. Guess not everyone knows who he is.

"You dolt. That's the Chief." Ruff scowls.

"I want to officially greet you all. You are the next wave in the great dragon warriors of Berk. The fire breathers from the sky. For those of you who have been living under a rock and don't know me, I am Stoick Haddock. Also known as Stoick the Vast due to my size." He chuckles to himself and continues. "I am chief of Berk and in charge of the military which makes me your boss in a way."

Stoick walks around the room as he speaks. Hiccup scoops closer to the corner and lowers his head as if he doesn't want to be spotted by his father. "As the greatest Pilot's the world has to offer you are the tip of the spear and I am the shaft."

Tuffnut snorts. "He said shaft."

"Boy. I will personally snap your scrawny neck in your sleep if you say one more word." Gobber threatens from directly behind him and that shuts him up pretty quick.

"The tip of the spear is what causes the destruction. It is the attacking force. The shaft is only used to direct the path of destruction. Together we will form an unstoppable power against any who may challenge us. Work hard and you will be rewarded. Remember. A chief is always watching. Nothing happens on this island that I don't know about." He finishes his speech and is on his way back to the doors of the mess hall.

"Son. You couldn't stop by my office later could you?" Stoick asks Hiccup as he passes by.

"Sure dad." Hiccup says quickly.

The leader of Berk exits to an applause from everyone.

"He's one of the finest leaders Berk has ever seen." Bucket Odinson says.

Now, Bucket and his bother Mulch may have the last name Odinson but they are far from being the sons of the almighty Odin. Bucket got his nickname because when he was a young child, his head was the size of a bucket. Which is no exaggeration as he had gotten his head stuck in a bucket on more than one occasion while showing people so. The name Bucket stuck so badly that people started to use it instead of his real name so often that his real name was soon forgotten. Now no one remembers his name. Not even he does.

* * *

Hiccup is in the barracks for Delta Squad. "Lights out in fifteen. I expect you all to be on time at first light. Tardiness will not be accepted and the General will send people packing if they are late."

"Permission to speak, Commander Haddock?" Ruffnut asks.

"Go ahead Cadet Thorston." Hiccup responds.

"Are you our squad leader, Commander?"

"Unfortunately no. Your squad leader arrives tomorrow from an officer's school. I take care of the logistics around here." Hiccup answers. "Have a good sleep. You're going to need it." And with that he was out the door.

Snotlout snorts. "Logistics is just a fancy word for secretary. The wimp is probably too scared to fly."

He pulls the covers back and slips in to bed then turns his attention over to Astrid who already has her eyes closed.

"I won't tell anyone if you wanna crawl in over here during the night babe."

Astrid opens her eyes. "Go fuck yourself Jorgenson."

She rolls over. "If I hear you again tonight I'm going to suffocate you with your pillow.

 **A/N: For those of you wondering about my other story. I'm still working on it. I've been on a World War 2 kick lately and I usually go with the flow of wherever writing takes me and this time it took me to a whole new story. To those of you who are new to my writing. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. My last story was a mish mash of whatever I felt like writing with no real ending in sight and no real plan. This story however has a very defined storyline to it. I have 24 planned chapters for it. (I could potentially add some as I go but I usually stick pretty close to my outlines whenever I make one.) I'd love to hear from ya's all. Reviews are like the currency of Fanfics. They inspire the writers to keep on producing. Plus it's great hearing from people who enjoy the work. Thanks and we'll see you next chapter. If you have any question or comments that you don't want to leave in a review, don't hesitate to shoot me a message.**

 **LG**

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 **Also to make things a little easier I'm going to post a list of the ranks as is in the Berkian Air Force. Essentially I mixed some from the air force and some from the army to make it up as I like the sounds of some more than others. So from lowest rank to highest.**

 **Cadet**

 **Corporal**

 **Sergeant**

 **Warrant Officer**

 **Lieutenant**

 **Captain**

 **Squadron Leader (Squad Leader)**

 **Wing Commander (Commander)**

 **Colonel**

 **Air Commodore**

 **Lieutenant General**

 **General**

 **Field Marshall**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the How to Train Your Dragon Characters. The story is purely for fun and not for any monetary gains.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"The rifle before you is a British supplie Lee-Enfield rifle. With a ten-round magazine housing .303 rounds, this bolt action rifle has one of the most accurate shots out there." Gobber gives the lowdown on the rifles that each of them now hold.

The recruits are lying down behind a small mound of dirt. A makeshift support for the target practice that they are about to experience.

"Permission to speak sir?"

"Speak freely Cadet Ingerman." Gobber responds with a wave of his false hand.

Fishlegs glances around nervously hoping for some form of encouragement from his peers before he asks. "If we're becoming pilots, why do we need to learn how to fire rifles?"

"Cadet Ingerman wishes to know why it's necessary for pilots to learn the mechanics of a rifle. Does anyone have an answer for him? Gobber asks the crowd.

"To make us the ultimate killing machine Sir." Ruffnut shouts her answer.

Gobber snaps his fingers on his good hand. "Precisely. Well said Cadet Thorston. If we were an manufacturing company you'd be rewarded alas we're in the military. In the terrible event that you are shot down, you can keep bringing the fight to the enemy."

"Do we keep the rifles in the cockpit?" Snotlout asks dumbly.

"Don't be stupid boy. We supply you with your very own Colt M1911. A sidearm manufactured in the USA. The pistol will allow you the capabilities to defend yourself and acquire a larger firearm from a fallen enemy if needed." Gobber explains.

Hiccup stands to one side, holding a clipboard yet again.

"At the ready!" Gobber shouts.

The trainees bring their rifles to their shoulders, snugging the butt in to the groove of their shoulder. Wooden targets in the shape of humans stand down range.

"Fire at will." Gobber gives them position to fire.

Gunfire fills the air as each trainee sights up their targets and starts to empty their clip.

Tuffnut's tongue hangs out of his mouth as he takes aim. He pulls the trigger, the bullet punching a hole in the upper right shoulder of the target. "I hit it! I'm a machine!" he brags.

Next to him, Ruffnut, not one to be outdone, takes precise aim and closes an eye to concentrate. She holds her breath and pulls the trigger. The neck of her target has a new piercing and she begins to brag in Tuffnut's ear about being better than him.

"Hey babe. Check this out!" Snotlout shouts to Astrid just before he fires off a shot.

It completely misses the target as a burst of dust kicks up in the dirt mound a short ways behind the target. Not one to look pathetic, he quickly pulls the bolt back, ejecting the empty shell out of the chamber and shoves the bolt back forward and down, locking it in place. He lines up his second shot. Holding his breath, he pulls the trigger. Another puff of dirt is kicked up.

"Check what out Snotlout? I haven't seen anything exceptional here." Astrid asks with amusement lacing her words.

Hiccup standing over to the side can't help but smile at her comment.

"You sure you're looking down the sights?" Tuffnut asks him with chuckle vibrating his words.

Snotlout's only response is a grumble in his throat as he pulls the bolt back and pushes the next round in to the chamber. Teeth gritted together, he fires again. Another miss.

"You need to keep your eyes open when you pull the trigger."

Snotlout looks up to see Hiccup watching him. "I'd like to see you do better." He challenges the Commander.

No one else is firing anymore. Instead they're watching Hiccup to see how he will react to Snotlout's mouth. Even Gobber waits in silence. Give Snot latrine duty for a month? Mess hall duty?

What they weren't expecting to happen was exactly what happened.

Hiccup drops the clipboard on the ground and holds out his hand. "Your rifle Cadet."

"What?" Snotlout is dumbfound.

"Your rifle." Hiccup repeats.

Snotlout holds his rifle up for Hiccup who takes a firm hold on it.

"You've fired three rounds. So that leaves me with seven left in the magazine, right cadet?" Hiccup asks as he adjusts to the familiar weight of the rifle.

"Uh. I guess so." Snotlout shrugs dumbly.

"You should always know how many rounds you have left cadet. Being caught on empty during a fire fight is not somewhere that you want to be." Hiccup lectures as he pulls the bolt back, forcing the empty shell out.

"You'd like to see me do better." He shoves the bolt forward. "Weren't those your exact words?"

Silence from the entire group.

Hiccup raises the gun placing the butt firmly against his shoulder. He calms his breathing. Staring down the iron sights, he takes aim at the first target, inhales slightly and pulls the trigger. He quickly chambers the next round and fires at the next target and continues down the line until his rifle is empty.

Leaving the chamber open he hands it back to Snotlout with the bolt open. Everyone present is staring at the targets slack jawed. Except for Gobber of course who is hiding a smirk. Seven shots and seven perfect head shot bulleyes.

Without a word Hiccup turns on his heels and heads off. Astrid glances back at the seven bullseyes then back at Hiccup wide eyed. She can't believe what she saw and had someone told her about it rather than her seeing it she wouldn't have believed them. She considered herself an expert marksman but there was no way that she could hit seven perfect shots in such a short amount of time.

Gobber chuckles at the reactions of the squad. "Maybe one of you will be able to shoot like that someday. But I doubt it. Now back to it."

Tuff fires off a shot down range. "Haha! Bullseye!

"That's my target you butt elf." Ruffnut complains.

"Doesn't matter. It's still a bullseye. Tuff gloats.

Fishlegs holds his gun steady as he talks to himself. "Steady… steady… Wind estimate… five knots from the east. Compensate slightly… Brace for impact and… fire." He squeezes the trigger.

The bullet finds its target but barely as it grazes the edge.

So close… Reload." Fishlegs continues to narrate his actions.

"Will you shut up." Starkard loses his patience.

* * *

Dressed in olive green army fatigues, the cadets jog along an old dusty dirt road. With a backpack full of forty pounds of gear and an olive green metal helmet in a similar style to the ones the US Army wore, they jogged along the road.

A military jeep cruises along next to the, with Hiccup at the wheel. Gobber sits in the back yelling at them to keep them motivated.

"Permission to speak sir?" Hoark Haggard asks.

Hoark Haggard is a strong bull of a man with average intelligence. He's no strategist but he's fearless and loyal. His fierce personality hides a calm and kind demeanor. He has brown hair and in true Berkian fashion, a massive beard that he occasionally ties bread in.

"Go ahead Cadet Haggard." Gobber answers.

"How come we gotta do be doing this?" Hoark asks gruffly.

"You want to be a pilot don't you?" Gobber answers a question with a question.

"Yes Sir."

"Then you will run the six mile hike with all your gear because I am the gate keeper that you need to pass in order to become a pilot. So if I say you have to run six miles in full gear then you will run six miles in full gear." Gobber states matter of factly.

"But Sir. We're to fight in the air." Hoark questions the answer that was given.

"Care to answer his question Commander? I feel as if I've already answered this before." Gobber directs at Hiccup.

"We're Berkians. We may be the world's best pilots but we also pride ourselves in being the best fighting force out there. What we lack in numbers we make up for in quality. Whether it be in the air, on the land or sea." Hiccup gives an almost textbook answer.

"Thank you Commander. Now I believe in leading by example however when it comes to this, I require both my legs. If I somehow found it lying around in some field in France and magically reattach it I would not only lead this column but I would also leave the rest of you behind." Gobber tells them.

"I'd pay to see that." Snotlout grumbles under his breath.

"What was that cadet Jorgenson?" Gobber shouts.

"Nothing Sir! I was just saying that you would have been a force to be reckoned with in your day Sir." Snotlout covers up in hopes that Gobber believes his lie.

"Aye. That I was. And still am in the air." Gobber brags and Snotlout breathes a sigh of relief.

* * *

Snotlout reaches the top of the hill, huffing and puffing. Astrid pushes past him and he tries to keep up with her as he doesn't want to make himself look weak. If he's strong then maybe, just maybe she will be impressed enough to join him in his cot for a night.

"Are you busy this weekend?" He breathlessly asks her as they jog along side by side.

She rolls her eyes. "We're confined to base you dolt. Remember?"

"Right… I was just making small talk." He says sheepishly. "Maybe we could do something tonight. You know after lights out."

Astrid is disgusted by the mere thought of any type of intimacy with him but she doesn't even get to tell him so as he trips over his own feet and falls flat on his face in a puff of dust.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut laugh wildly as they pass by him.

* * *

All the recruits stand in the parade square at attention with their chests heaving and their breathing laboured.

"When I'm done with ya's, you'll be able to run that without even breaking a sweat." Gobber informs them.

"How come Commander Haddock doesn't need to run it with us?" Hedgelout Jorgenson whines.

Now Hedgelout Jorgenson isn't the brightest bulb. In fact he may quite easily claim the title of being the dumbest recruit in Delta Squad. He's a distant cousin of Snotlout's who lacks most of his brain cells. That being said, what he lacked in brain cells he made up for in his unwavering loyalty. A born follower eager to receive orders, he hardly bares any resemblance to Snotlout with a piggish nose and a big body that loved sweets a little too much, Hedgelout wasn't what came to mind when one would think of a pilot.

"What's your name Cadet?" Gobber asks calmly but you could practically feel the tension in his words.

"Hedgelout. Hedgelout Jorgenson. Sir." Hedgelout gulps.

"Well Hedgelout. Commander Haddock doesn't need to run it with you because Commander Haddock has been running the damn course since he was ten. If he ran it with you now, he would not only do it faster than you, he would downright make you look bad." Gobber explains. "Secondly. When a low ranking soldier such as yourself wishes to speak, he is to ask permission and end it with a Sir. Being your first infraction of this sort, your punishment is to run the hike again. Immediately."

Hedgelout gapes dumbly at him.

"Did I stutter Cadet?" Gobber asks sternly.

"No Sir!"

"Then get a move on!"

Hedgelout rushes out of formation heading down the dirt road towards Edge Mountain.

"Any other questions? Preferably ones that aren't dumb." Gobber asks the rest of the trainees.

"When will we get to fly, Sir?" Astrid asks firmly.

"Cadet Hofferson is it? You look like your uncle. Fearless Finn. I had the pleasure of flying alongside Finn during the Great War. Good man. Saved my skin more times than I can count." Gobber seemingly drifts off in to his memories before snapping back. "The answer to your question is tomorrow morning. We take to the skies tomorrow. You won't get to fly of course but it's to get the feel for it. Your air legs if you will." He chuckles at his own small joke. Air legs. Like sea legs but in the air.

A cheer goes out amongst the trainees.

"Dismissed!"

* * *

Gobber stands in near darkness on the tarmac of the airstrip next to a carefully placed training plane. It was there to make it easier for a nighttime take off. Footsteps can be heard crossing the tarmac.

He squints in to the night in vain trying to see the source of the sound. "Hiccup. That you?" Gobber whispers loudly.

Hiccup steps out of the darkness in to the dim moonlight where Gobber can see him.

"We really need a code word." Hiccup shakes his head.

Gobber frowns. "Now why in bloody hell would we need a code word?"

"What if it was my father who was walking along out here? Then he'd be wondering why in the name of all the gods you're expecting to find me out on the airstrip near the training plane in the middle of the night."

"Your father is Chief of Berk. He has better things to do than walk around Camp Edge in the middle of the night." Gobber laughs.

"Who are you talking to Gobber?" Stoick's voice booms from the darkness causing Hiccup to jump. He dives in to the shadows of some nearby crates.

He presses his body tightly to the wooden boxes wishing they were taller so as to hide him better as he silently prayed that his father wouldn't spot him.

"Evening Stoick. Just replaying a conversation I had with your son earlier. Matter of fact you just made me lose my wager to the lad." Gobber makes up.

"A wager you say?" Stoick says as he steps out of the shadows. His curiosity has been peaked.

"Aye. A wager. I bet five bucks that you were too busy with chiefing duties to do any nightly patrols. Hiccup said that you're never too busy for them." Gobber sighs in an effort to keep up the charade.

Now five bucks nowadays might not be much but five bucks in 1930's was a significant sum of money.

Stoick laughs at Gobber's misfortune. "I was a soldier before I was chief. Hard to get rid of old habits.

"Aye that they are."

Hiccup peeks out from behind the crates. He's unsure if his hiding place is sufficient.

"What brings ye out here tonight? Going for a night run?" Stoick asks.

Now going on a night run was nothing new to them. During the Great War Stoick had made a squadron of Pilot's who specialized in night raids. Stoick, Gobber, Valka, Spitelout, Finn among some others were all members. Not all of them made it through the war to return to Berk.

"Aye. Gotta keep meself in tip top shape and seeing as I'm busy with the recruits all day, night flights are the only ones I can get." Gobber tells him with a shrug.

Stoick nods. The new recruits definitely were a handful. They had never taken in so many at once before. "Hiccup asked if he could be trained again tonight."

Bingo. The real reason Stoick was out walking around. Anything that concerned Hiccup always required long pondering walks.

"Didcha let him?" Gobber raises an eyebrow.

"Ye know I can't Gobber."

"Can't? Or won't?" Gobber questions.

Stoick doesn't say but they both know the answer. He won't risk losing Hiccup the same way that he lost Valka.

"I'll let you get on with your flight." Stoick says as he heads off. "Have a good flight."

Gobber watches him go until the shadows swallow him up.

Hiccup waits till the heavy footsteps fade off in the distance and then waits a little longer. "You can come out now." Gobber tells him.

"What did I tell ya? He'd be out for a walk tonight." Hiccup comes out of hiding.

"Well how the hell was I ta know that ye had gone talking to him again?" Gobber says in his defence.

"So where's my five bucks?" Hiccup asks with a grin.

"Get in the plane ya cheeky fucker." Gobber chuckles.

* * *

Take off was as easy as could be for Hiccup. The runway was all kinds long so he had no fear of going off the end of it. The hard part was doing all the maneuvers that Gobber was teaching him. While in the dark. Without smashing in to the mountain or trees. That was the tricky part.

"Take her up to 10,000 feet." Gobber's voice crackles over the radio.

"Roger that." Hiccup responds as he slowly pulls back on the stick angling the plane upwards.

"See that light down there?"

Hiccup scans below him, spotting a small light at the far side of Berk. "I see it."

"Push us in to a dive. Straight at it. Hold on her then at 1500 feet pull out of the dive and level off at 5000 feet." Gobber explains the drill.

Hiccup throttles up, pushing the training plane closer to its limit. Judging the distance, Hiccup pushes the stick forward and the nose of the plane drops down in to a dive. He keeps his eyes focused on the light, stealing glances at his gauges. The ground was quickly approaching even if they couldn't see it in the darkness.

"Ease up on the throttle." Gobber's voice crackles over the radio.

Hiccup ignores him, keeping the plan in its dive. The light is fast approaching. "You're going too fast, Hiccup."

2500 feet. Hiccup checks his gauges. Everything normal. 2000 feet. He pulls up a little on the stick, keeping the dim light in his crosshairs. 1500 feet. "Pull up!" Gobber says urgently.

1000 feet. Hiccup hauls back on the stick and the plane groans and shakes as it pulls out of the dive. 800 feet by the time he gets the plane evened out and gaining in altitude.

"What in all the Gods holy arseholes was that?!" Gobber sputters over the radio.

"We didn't crash." Hiccup says nonchalantly.

"You disobeyed an order. Not only from a commanding officer but a General at that." Gobber says gruffly. "You could be court martialled for that.

"I also managed to get in more strafing time on my target if you didn't catch that. And we didn't crash." Hiccup adds.

"Whenever you fly in a plane alone AFTER you finish your training, then you can do whatever you wish. However seeing that you have a death wish, I do not. So you will do as ordered or this will be where the training stops." Gobber scolds him.

Hiccup loses the smile from his face. "Understood."

There's silence for a moment before Gobber starts issuing orders again.

The rest of the training session Hiccup followed orders to the T and everything went splendid. No more yelling or threatening.

* * *

Exhilarated, Hiccup hops out of the plane and pulls his helmet off. Gobber struggles a little more with his wooden leg but finally manages to reach the ground.

"I hate to say it Hiccup but you fly better at night than most pilots do in the day. You'll be a force to be reckoned with during the day when you finally get your chance." Gobber compliments.

Hiccup is skeptical of that. "I don't think that will happen any time soon."

"Aww you don't know that." Gobber answers.

"I do know that."

"No. You don't." Gobber repeats. "He may change his mind someday. Just you wait and see."

Hiccup is unconvinced as they part ways, heading for their respective bunks.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you all enjoy the story so far. I currently have 4 chapters written for this story but they are written in a scribbler and I still need to type them. Started a new job and only have about 2 and a half hours of free time a day so writing has been going a little slower than usual but I'm keeping at it. Thanks for the support. Questions or comments, let me know either via reviews or message me.**

 **LG**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

 **September 2** **nd** **1939 – Camp Edge**

"Move it! If I wanted to see old women attempting to run I'd go visit my grandmother in her nursing home!" Magnus Redbeard yells.

Magnus Redbeard also known as Magnus the Merciless by those who know him as a Lieutenant in the BAF. With his fiery red hair and closely trimmed beard he is a very by the book kind of man who he is also known for being extremely strict as well as issuing borderline cruel punishments for any disobedience in his squad. And luckily for Delta squad, he was their new officer.

Fishlegs climbs a rope obstacle, but struggles mightily as his big belly and short legs aren't a good combination for such an obstacle.

"Are you going to climb the obstacle or take it out for dinner Ingerman?!" Magnus screams at him.

"I'm trying Sir." Fishlegs whines.

"Are you sassing me boy?! Do you know what I do to people who sass me?!" Magnus tears in to him.

Astrid cruises by Fishlegs on the obstacle hopping down the other side with an agile front flip. Okay maybe she was showing off a little, but Astrid was determined to be the best.

"Why can't you be more like Cadet Hofferson, Ingerman?!" Magnus yells.

Ruffnut dives in to the mud hole that's under a large barbwire. Tuffnut is right behind her. Both of them cackling in delight at getting covered in mud.

"is something funny Cadets?" Magnus asks with steel in his voice.

"No Sir!"" The twins yell in unison. "We just like to get dirty Sir!"

"You guys share a goddamn brain?" Magnus insults. "You like to get dirty. You still gonna have the urge to get dirty when you have a dozen Tom, Dick and Harry's shooting at ya?!"

Neither twin offers an answer, nor are they laughing anymore.

Snotlout climbs up the wooden wall, pulling himself up and over. He hops down, landing in a superhero landing.

"Good stuff Jorgenson. You're going to make your father proud." Magnus actually compliments someone.

Sven trips and falls face first in to the wooden wall, splitting his lip open.

"How are we going to be better than Echo squad if you can't stay on your feet cadet?" Magnus can't tolerate mistakes.

Astrid finishes the obstacle course first, a long way ahead of the rest even though she was the last one to start. She's barely even winded but she knows her training. Walk it off.

"Good job Hofferson." Magnus congratulates.

Snotlout finishes next, breathing heavily.

"Awesome job Jorgenson." Magnus compliments. He turns to Astrid. "See that Hofferson. That's a real pilot. If you weren't held back by your womanly instincts you could be as good as Jorgenson.

Astrid clenches her fists as her blood begins to boil. What the fuck did he just say?

"Excuse me Sir?" She asks, barely in control of her anger.

"You being a woman impedes your cognitive ability to think quickly on your feet and to make brash decisions." Magnus says calmly.

I am ten times the warrior Snotlout is you chauvinistic pig." Astrid snarls.

"Disagreeing with an officer. Not one of your smarter moves. Mess hall duty for a week." Magnus states without care.

Ruff and Tuff had finished in time to hear the conversation. The rest of Delta squad minus Fishlegs was now crowding in one by one as they finish the course. Fish is unfortunately still struggling with the obstacles as he struggles to stay clear of the barb wire in the mud hole. He grunts and groans as he struggles through the mud.

"Are you still going Fishlegs? Whynot just give up and go home? It would be so easy. Maybe you'd rather transfer to a desk job?" Magnus taunts as Fishlegs' determination to complete the course is unwavering.

"Belittling your subordinates does nothing to encourage them to follow you in to battle." Astrid hisses.

"That'll be two weeks mess hall duty Hofferson." Magnus stands tall as he tries to tower over her.

She doesn't fall for his intimidation attempt. "You are not a true leader and you will get everyone under your command killed."

"If an officer commands a soldier to die, he dies. One week suspension from flight training!" Magnus declares.

Silence between them as they stand toe to toe. Astrid stares defiantly up in to Magnus' eyes who is a good eight and a half inches taller than her.

"Grab your gear. I'm ordering you to run the mountain. Next time you attempt to assert authority over an officer I will have you dishonorably discharged." Magnus grits through clenched teeth.

The rest of the trainees can't even react as they stand in shock.

Astrid is tempted to punch him. Her fingernails are digging painfully in to her palms as she clenches her fists. Getting court marshalled isn't something she needs right now, and so she pulls away.

Magnus turns on the rest of them. "Get back to training, all of you! Continuously run the course until I either tell you to stop or you drop."

Everyone rushes back at it, not wanting to piss off the Lieutenant more than he already is.

* * *

Nearby Hiccup watches the group closely. Not much happened on the base that he didn't know about. He doesn't approve of Magnus' ways one bit. The best pilots in the world aren't the taunted and belittled to be the best. They are encouraged and trained. He shakes his head before moving on.

* * *

Astrid pulls on her army fatigues, attaching the belt with canteen and entrenching tooll along with other bits. She shoulders her forty pound pack, grabs her steel pot helmet and rifle before heading out the door.

* * *

Outside she stops for a moment to watch her peers. They're still running the course. Fishlegs looks like he is going to pass out. Starkard can barely stay on his feet. Her eyes come to rest on Magnus who is staring intently at her. She stones her features, places the helmet on her head and starts jogging. It was going to be a long trip.

Hiccup spots her before she even makes it out of camp. He effortlessly jogs along beside her.

"How come you're jogging alone?" He asks.

"Lieutenant's orders, Commander. Seems that not tolerating is chauvinistic comments is a punishable offence." Astrid tells him. "Seems that I'm a liability because I'm a woman."

"We won't stand for that kind of behaviour around here." Hiccup states strongly.

"You can continue to punish me if you like. Hell court martial me if you have to but I will not tolerate that kind of abuse." Astrid tells him adamantly.

"You misunderstand me, Astrid. I meant his behaviour is unacceptable. Not yours. I will be investigating this." Hiccup explains.

"Calling me by my first name isn't very professional Commander." Astrid allows a smile to crack her lips.

Hiccup, embarrassed at his sudden lack of professionalism and boldness is at a loss for words. His tongue seems to trip over itself to spew out absolutely no comprehensible words. He doesn't even get a moment to compose himself as he trips over a rock and falls flat on his face.

Astrid chuckles. "Don't wait up. I could be awhile."

Hiccup slowly gets to his feet, watching her as she rounds the bend. "Way to be clumsy, Hiccup." He tells himself as he wipes the dust and dirt off his clothes. He tries to get his dignity back as he heads off.

* * *

"You need to replace him, Dad. He berates the men. He treats them worse than animals." Hiccup paces around Stoick's office, hands waving.

"And replace him with who? We have no other officers." Stoick tells him, while rubbing his head.

"Anybody. Replace him with a sergeant temporarily until we can get someone." Hiccup pleads.

"No Hiccup. Magnus stays."

"Do you know what the men call him behind his back? Magnus the Merciless. They would get treated better in a war camp."

Stoick is getting annoyed. "Did ya not hear me? We have no replacements. Magnus stays for now."

"I'll replace him." Hiccup says enthusiastically. Stoick's face turns to a glower but he says nothing so Hiccup continues. "Temporarily. Until someone else is ready."

Stoick chuckles. "You? Ya don't even know how to fly Hiccup. How do ye expect to train pilots?"

Hiccup turns away from his father.

"I know ya want to help out Hiccup but there's nothing ye can do."

Conceding defeat Hiccup nods before pushing out of his father's office. Stoick sighs. Hiccup could definitely be a handful at times.

* * *

Astrid steps in to the mess hall. Supper is well underway. She just took time to drop her gear off at her bunk before going for some grub.

Ruffnut spots her. "It's about time you got here. I was afraid, Fish and the Odinson's were going to eat it all."

"In my defence, it's not every day that we get roast beef." Fish says with a full mouth.

Astrid smiles as her stomach growls hungrily.

"What is the meaning of this Cadet Hofferson?" Magnus shouts from the front of the mess hall.

Astrid freezes. "Uhh. I'm not sure what you mean Sir."

"Get your dirty fatigues out of here this instant." He orders.

She's about to talk back when the door slams open.

"Attention!" Gobber yells as he hobbles in.

Everyone snaps to attention as Stoick walks in. "At ease" he announces.

"I've got news. Bad news. It seems that the world is at war once more. France has sent a message to all her allies. Germany has invaded Poland. The attack is swift and precise. Unlike anything the world has ever seen before. They're calling it a Blitzkrieg. Lightning war. England is quickly putting together an expeditionary force to send in to Europe. Our sources say that Hitler is eyes up the west once Poland is taken." Stoick tells them all.

Murmurs begin to go around the mess hall.

"We will fight alongside our allies once again. Active recruiting will be taking place all around Berk. Those of you in training will be trained harder. The first wave of pilot's will be sent out within the week.

The crowd is bustling with excitement.

Hiccup enters in through the doors quietly and waits.

Magnus excited by the opportunity to prove himself in combat.

"Delta squad. Change in to your PT gear and prepare to move out."

Silence. You could hear a pin drop. Nobody moves. Delta squad members all have the same look on their faces. Is he fucking serious?

"I gave you an order! Move it!" Magnus yells.

Stoick frowns at the behaviour. Magnus isn't showing the best traits of a leader. This man is definitely trying too hard to prove something. Unfortunately Stoick doesn't say anything to put a stop to it. Like he told Hiccup, he had no one to replace him with.

"Dad, you need to send Magnus in the first wave." Hiccup whispers.

"We've already discussed this Hiccup and my decision still stands." He says gruffly before pushing out the door.

Astrid, without anything to eat, follows the other scrambling members of Delta squad. She salutes Hiccup. "Commander."

Magnus follows them out the door, snapping Hiccup a quick salute as he goes. Not because he wants to but because he is essentially forced to respect the rank.

Hiccup pushes out the door after Magnus. "Lieutenant?"

Magnus turns back. "Yes Commander?"

"Would you have a problem with me joining your squads run? I would like to do an evaluation."

The thought doesn't thrill Magnus at all. "If you think you can keep up." What he really meant was "You're a ranking officer so do whatever you want but I don't need you to babysit me."

* * *

He had no problem keeping up with Delta squad even though Magnus pushed them harder and faster than ever before, in hopes that Hiccup would fall behind. What Magnus seemed to forget was that Hiccup was running the course regularly since he was six years old. This was a breeze for him.

Fishlegs and Sven begin to fall behind near the halfway mark. When the others went to help them, Magnus ordered them not to. "You need to be the best individual soldiers that you can be because if you're shot down, you will be alone. Complete and utterly alone. Providing you survive the crash."

"Are you squad leader, Hofferson?" Magnus asks.

"No, Sir."

"Then get the hell back in formation." He hisses.

"I was just trying to be the best that I can be as an individual fighting force, Sir." Astrid answers with the knowledge that Magnus will absolutely hate having his own words thrown back in his face like that. She doesn't care though. She has not an ounce of respect for that pathetic excuse of a man.

"Are you back talking Cadet?" Magnus feels his anger flaring.

"Lieutenant. If you are willing to allow soldiers in your squad to fall behind so that they become the best they can be, it would seem only logical to allow those who can push forward to push forward to the best of their ability." Hiccup speaks up.

Magnus harrumphs but doesn't respond. Astrid mouths a thank you at Hiccup.

The gesture doesn't go unnoticed by Ruffnut.

* * *

Delta squad gets back to their barracks, exhausted. Some were even considering dropping out due to Magnus' behaviour.

"I didn't join the air force to be bullied and insulted." Starkard growls as he lets himself fall on to his cot. His legs are aching.

"But just think. War in Europe. Dog fights, explosions. Why would you quit now?" Tuffnut says dreamily.

Ruffnut follows Astrid back to her bunk. "Do you have the hots for Commander Haddock?" She asks in a barely audible tone.

"What? No. What gave you that idea?" Astrid is mildly taken back. Sure the Commander was hot. But wouldn't that be unprofessional? And there were rules in place weren't there? She didn't know. Maybe she'd look in to it and find out. She pushes the thoughts from her head trying to ignore it.

"I seen you mouthing words at him during the hike." Ruffnut confesses.

"I mouthed a quick thank you. Magnus the idiot would have given me another month of mess hall duty maybe even worse." Astrid tells her.

"Yeah. He does have it out for you doesn't he? Ruffnut nods.

* * *

Hiccup sneaks along the runway to the training plane. He beat Gobber there this time. He doesn't wait for the bigger man as he gets right to prepping the plane for flight.

Stoick walks along the gravel path, enjoying the quiet night save for the crunching of the gravel under his feet. Summer was beginning to disappear as there was a mild crispness in the air.

He hears the familiar step-thump of Gobber. "Evening Gobber."

"Out for another evening stroll, Stock?"

"Aye. A lot of my mind." Stoick says. Sending soldiers to war would definitely weigh heavy on anyone's mind. Look how many they lost during the last war.

A shout can be heard off in the distance from one of the barracks. A fight was breaking out.

Stoick grabs the bridge of his nose. Annoyed. He didn't need this at the moment. "Think you can take care of that for me?"

"Aye. I got it." Gobber hobbles off towards the barracks allowing Stoick to continue his walk.

His legs take him to the runway and he notices someone scrambling around one of the training places.

"Who's there?" He booms.

Hiccup freezes. Why was his dad out here? What kind of excuse could he make? He steps away from the wing of the plane to face his father. "Hi Dad."

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter is a little shorter than normal which I'm not a fan of but It got a section of the story across that I wanted to without over extending. I hope you all enjoy it even though its short. Always love hearing from those enjoying the story and constructive criticism is always welcomed. You're the driving force behind the stories. You keep me motivated. Until the next chapter. Also if there are any questions I'm more than happy to answer them.**

 **LG**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Hiccup and Stoick stand across from one another in silence for a long moment. Hiccup's mind is racing to come up with excuses. "It's not what it seems." He tries to begin but even he knows how cliché that sounds.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Stoick's words are laced with venom. Anger is seething from him. How could his son betray him like this?

"I was just inspecting the plane dad." Hiccup lies. It's a fairly feeble and weak lie as he is still wearing the flight helmet on his head.

"All set for your flight, Hiccup?" Gobber says loudly as he's getting close. Hiccup groans. The cat is out of the bag. Gobber takes notice of Stoick. "Oh… I'll… uh… leave you two to it."

"No! Stay!"Stoick orders.

"Okay. I'll stay." Gobber shrugs.

The air practically crackles with tension. "How long?"

Hiccup starts to answer. "It's more complicated than that. I-"

"How long?!" Stoick cuts him off angrily.

"Twelve months." Gobber pipes in.

"A year. You've been training for a year?" Stoick exclaims in disbelief.

"Thought you knew everything that goes on on this island?" Gobber says quietly.

Stoick fires a glare a him. "And shutting up now." Gobber tells him.

Stoick turns his anger back on Hiccup. He still wants answers. "You're a trained pilot. How can you expect me to be anything less?" Hiccup asks his father.

"You're the next in line to be Chief of Berk. You're the heir. What happens if you die? What happens to Berk then?" Stoick booms.

"How can you expect me to lead the people of Berk if I'm not willing to fight alongside the soldiers? How could I ever live with myself if I allowed people to die for me?" Hiccup argues with him. "You and mom went to war."

"And only one of us returned. Do you want to disappear like she did? At least when we left we had a child, someone to lead this country if we were to perish.

Hiccup can't believe his ears. "A child? I was a baby. You both left before I was even off the tit. If you both died how did you expect me to be a leader if I couldn't even talk?"

Stoick explodes. "We had a heir. The Haddock line would continue even if we both disappeared. Our name dies with you. You are the last of our line until you have a child."

Hiccup sticks his chin out. He's stubborn just like his father. "I could rectify that easily enough. I'm sure there's a ton of women out there who would love to father an heir.

"Don't be daft boy. You're the future Chief. You are to hold yourself to a higher standard than knocking up some random wench." Stoick tells his son. He's not happy about the boy's defiance one bit.

"I can out shoot and out run any trainee that you have here. Hell almost all of the professional soldiers that are here as well. I'm also sure that I can be a much better and more effective leader than that doofus Magnus the Merciless." Hiccup adds that last part in the most sarcastic tone possible as he continues to try and convince his father to let him train.

"I can't take the risk to lose you. You're all I have left of Valka." Stoick starts.

"You're not listening to me." Hiccup tries to start again.

"The answer is no, Hiccup. You are not training with them and you are not going to war." Stoick says coldly. "Return to your bunk. I don't want to see you near the planes again.

Hiccup hasn't accepted defeat yet and he goes to open his mouth again but Stoick will have none of it. "That's an order!" He barks.

Hiccup closes his mouth. Steeling his emotions, he turns and leaves, heading for his bunk.

Stoick watches for a moment then turns back to Gobber.

"He's as much the stubborn young man as you ever were." Gobber says with a chuckle.

"You've been training him behind my back for a year against my very specific wishes." Stoick says angrily.

"Stoick, give the lad a chance. He's a natural. Perhaps even better than you." Gobber tells him.

"I don't care if he is ten times the pilot that I am. I forbad him from flying and you disobeyed my direct orders." Stoick booms. "I have half a mind to relieve you of your duties."

Gobber's features darken. "Easy now Stoick. Don't say things that you may regret."

"I am a ranking officer General and you will address me as Sir." Stoick continues his rampage.

"I don't have any regrets in training the boy. He would find a way to get in the air even without me so maybe it was better that he had a trained professional to show him the ropes. Both his parents are pilots. It's in his blood." Gobber says before sassily adding "Sir."

After a quick, crisp salute Gobber goes off on his own, leaving Stoick there to mind his own matters. Both of them really need some time to calm down.

* * *

A plane flies high over Berk. It's a transport plane. A C-46 Commando to be exact. They were a new plane that just came in from the US. They were very new and untested but Berk was more than willing to give them a good test run. The plane shudders as it goes through a bit of turbulence. The C-46 was definitely built roughly and not at all for comfort. Get the troops in the air and over the drop zone. That was their design not commercial class flying. Magnus stands near the open doorway. "When the light turns green you jump. If you hesitate for even a moment you're gone. I will not tolerate hesitation because if you hesitate to jump over the battlefield, you die. If you die then I obviously can't trust you."

The light turns green and Tuff goes to jump out only to be stopped by Magnus. "Where do you think you're going so eagerly soldier?"

"The light is green, sir." Tuffnut points out.

"I do not care if the light is green. You're to wait for my order." Magnus lets him have it even though he's contradicting himself. He just needs to micro manage and be in charge of everything. "Go."

Tuff dives out the door. "Woooooo!" He cheers as the winds whip past his ears. His parachute opening as he drops.

The rest of them wait and stare at Magnus. "Go! Go! Go! Go!"

One by one they jump out of the plane after him.

Astrid gets to the door and without hesitation, hops out feeling her stomach floating up as she falls towards the ground. Exhilaration fills her soul but the feeling disappears quickly as the parachute catches more and more air as the material opens.

She looks around at all the other parachutes that are floating around in the sky. The plane continues to get farther away as she slowly floats towards the ground.

Agnar Godefroy steps up to the door, glances out towards the ground and freezes. They're a long ways up. He can't bring himself to jump out the door.

"What are you waiting for?! Jump!" Magnus screams at him.

"I can't." Terror fills his words.

Magnus puts a foot on the small of his back. "I ordered you to jump!" He shoves Agnar out the door. Agnar falls out of view, screaming as he goes.

The last soldier steps up to the doorway. Magnus is taken off guard by the soldier. He doesn't recognize him although in his defence it's hard to recognize someone hidden under a mask. The soldier nods, gives a very unprofessional salute and jumps through the doorway. "Who the fuck was that?" Magnus asks to himself as he stares out after him.

"Were past the drop zone sir. Hang tight and we'll bring her back around for you." The pilot yells back.

"Don't bother. They'll find their own way back." Magnus shouts his response while thinking that if they don't make it back they don't deserve to be pilots.

* * *

Fishlegs panics as the ground comes closer. He's aimed straight for a big oak tree. He tugs at the ropes of his parachute in vain, trying to avoid the branches that are coming closer. "Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit." He continuously repeats to himself.

No luck in veering away from the tree. Eyes clenched shut, he crashes through the branches. The silk chute isn't as lucky as he is and becomes a tangled mess in amongst the leaves and twigs.

He stops about six feet from the ground and breathes a sigh of relief. His relief is quick lived as he discovers that he can't get himself out of the parachute harness. Struggling, his fingers can't detach the chute. He tries a few more times before giving up on it. He looks around, hoping to see someone from his squad to help him but sees no one. "Help?"

* * *

Tuffnut runs across an open field and dives behind a tree. He's humming his own theme song. He aims his rifle.

"Your gun isn't even loaded, Butt Elf." Ruffnut says as she meets up with him.

Tuffnut rolls his eyes. "Great. Of all the people to land next to, I get stuck with you."

Ruffnut leans against the tree. "What do we do now?"

"How should I know? I'm just here to fly planes. Does this look like a plane to you?"

"Can you guys be any louder?" Snotlout pushes through the bushes. "I could hear you from the other side of the woods."

"We can easily be louder." Tuff starts but Snot cuts him off. "I don't need you to prove it."

Tuff shuts his mouth again.

"What do we do now?" Snot asks.

"We were hoping you'd know." Ruffnut shrugs.

* * *

Elsewhere, Astrid touches down and quickly shrugs out of her parachute. She looks around, taking in her surroundings in a single pass while eyeing up the best spot to take cover.

A short jog and she's hidden by a dense patch of shrubs.

At the other end of the open field, Starkard lands heavily with a thud. He's definitely going to be bruised.

He struggles out of his parachute harness then looks around at his surrounds, confusion about what his next move will be clearly printed on his face.

Astrid rises up to her feet and waves to him so he makes his way over to her.

"What do we do now?" He asks.

"We round up the troops."

* * *

Stoick walks briskly along the sidewalk. "Spitelout. Have ye seen Hiccup?"

Spitelout shakes his head. "Haven't seen him Stoick."

Stoick groans in frustration. "Every time I need him, he's gone off to god knows where. If ya see him, tell him to find me."

He continues along hoping that someone will know where he can find Hiccup.

Astrid stares at Fishlegs who is still hanging in the tree. "A little help?"

"How are you the only person to have hit a tree?" Tuffnut tries to hold back a chuckle.

"I didn't do it on purpose if that's what you're wondering." Fishlegs whines.

"Snotlout, think you can get him down?" Astrid tosses the question out there.

"I'll get him." Tuffnut says excitedly as he starts climbing the tree.

He weasels out on a decent sized limb that will hold his weight and pulls out his combat knife. "Hold still big fella. You'll be down in no time."

"Uhhhh… Think you can swing me in to catch a branch before you cut those?" Fishlegs asks just as the first strap snaps. He lets out a high pitched squeak. He tries to swing himself so that he will be able to reach a branch.

"One more to go." Tuff smiles as he starts sawing away on the second strap.

"Tuff. Wait!" Too late. The strap break and Fishlegs lands on his face on the ground.

"I'm okay." He groans just before Tuff jumps from the tree, landing on his back for a 'softer' landing. "uggh. Less okay."

* * *

Once Fishlegs has his breath back, Astrid looks around at the Squad. She even has them set up in a small defensive perimeter.

She feels like someone is missing but she can't quite put her finger on whom. "Is everyone here?"

"Where's Magnus?" Ruffnut questions.

"I don't even care where Magnus is. Who the hell is the guy with the mask?" Snotlout questions.

Astrid didn't like to agree with Snotlout but she too was curious about who this newbie was. She was going to keep her eyes on him.

"I thought a truck was supposed to be here to bring us back to base." Starkard asks.

"Well if that's the case let's load up. Oh where's the truck? That's right. It's not here!" Snotlout exclaims sarcastically as he waves his hands over his head trying to emphasize his point.

"Did you see the way Magnus booted me out of the plane? Is he allowed to do that?" Agnar says to no one in particular as he's still shook up from the jump.

"Snotlout has a good point. Who the fuck are you?" She points at the man in the mask.

"Yeah! Who the fuck are you?" Tuffnut repeats as he tries to look tough so as to back her up if the mystery man causes problems.

Ruffnut slaps him upside the head. "Oww!"

"Astrid just asked that you dolt.

"I'm not at liberty to divulge that information." The mystery man replies.

"You're just here to replace Magnus? To be his ears and eyes? A snitch." Astrid accuses him.

The accusation carries a lot of weight with it as the others begin to close in on the mystery man. Nobody likes a snitch.

"I'm not a spy for Magnus. I'm just as pissed off as the rest of you that he's not down here."

"I'm not pissed off that he's not here. If anything I'm relieved." Tuffnut comments. "He's a dick."

"Not so loud in front of the spy." Ruffnut hisses.

"I'm not a spy."

"Exactly what a spy would say in this situation." Ruffnut claims as she leans against the base of the tree.

"Excuse us for not trusting your word but we have no idea who you are." Starkard pipes up.

"If you're not a spu then why the mask?" Ack asks aggressively.

"I can't answer that either."

"How can we trust you if we don't know you?" Fishlegs asks him.

"All of your questions will be explained when we get back to base." The masked stranger tells them. "You just have to trust me for now."

"How do you propose we get there? As I clearly pointed out, there are no trucks here." Snotlout raises his voice so as to be heard since clearly no one heard him the first time.

"We walk." Astrid tells them.

Silence amongst them. They don't even know how far away from base they were. "With him?" Snotlout finally breaks the silence.

"What else would we do with him?" Astrid frowns.

"Tie his ass up to that tree." Snotlout says enthusiastically with a smile.

Astrid rolls her eyes. "We're not tying him to a tree. He comes with us."

"To where?" Fishlegs asks in a tone that sounds like he hasn't paid much attention to the conversation.

Astrid clenches her jaw and her fists. She takes a deep breath before answering. "To base. Where else would we go?"

"We don't have any trucks." Ruffnut states in a matter of fact tone. "Snotlout just said that."

They really were testing her patience. "Like I said earlier. We walk." She says through clenched teeth.

"We don't even know how far that is." Snotlout states. Fishlegs fumbles at his jacket pocket, pulling out a map and compass. He checks his compass and scans the map, finding the drop zone. Hopefully they actually landed in the drop zone.

"Today." Tuffnut harasses him.

"I'm going as fast as I can. If you want it to go faster you're welcome to get your own map out." Fishlegs tells him as his eyes dart around the map.

"Judging from the surrounding area that I scoped out while parachuting in, I believe we're around this area." He points at an area on the map. "Which is about twenty miles ish away from base."

"Twenty miles! That's like twenty two miles away!" Tuffnut exclaims in despair.

"Twenty miles isn't twenty two miles of walking you idiot." Starkard growls.

"You want us to walk twenty miles?!" Snotlout is flabbergasted.

"Do you have a better plan?" Astrid asks him as she puts her weight on one foot and sets a hand on her hip. She would love to hear a better plan. She was most certainly not looking forward to a twenty mile hike.

Tuffnut shrugs. "We could stay here and wait for the trucks."

Astrid lets out a sigh. That was not the idea she was hoping for. "And what if no one comes? Then we need to hike twenty miles at our weakest because we don't exactly have any rations with us, do we? We're not geared for a long term stay. We need to move now while we are at our peak for strength.

Snotlout shakes his head and throws his hands in the air. "Dumbest idea I've ever heard. Trucks are probably on their way right now."

The man in the mask jumps in to the conversation. "Astrid is right. We need to get moving now. We're not only losing strength but we're also losing daylight.

Snotlout turns on him and places a hand squarely on the man's chest. "You, spy, don't get a say in the matters of our squad." And with that he pushes him back.

"Don't be such a bone headed idiot for once in your life." The man growls at Snotlout.

Snot doesn't take that response very well as he squints his eyes and grows suspicious of this stranger.

Astrid speaks up before it can go any further. "Those of you who wish to stay here. Stay here. The rest of you, prepare to move out.

Everyone except Snotlout starts grouping up with Astrid.

Snotlout can't believe it. "You're all going? Tuff?"

"Sorry man. There's strength in numbers." Tuffnut states as he sets his rifle on his shoulder.

Swallowing his pride, Snotlout hoists his gear off the ground and back on to his back. "I'm not staying here alone." he grumbles.

"That's the spirit Snotlout. A real team effort. That's what it's all about." Astrid pipes up.

* * *

Magnus shuts the door to the jeep that he was riding in. He heads towards the mess hall for his supper.

"Lieutenant Redbeard."

He turns towards the voice calling his name. It's Stoick. "What does that big oaf want now?" he mumbles under his breath.

He makes no effort to close the gap between them, instead he chooses to wait for Stoick to reach him. He snaps a quick salute when Stoick finally reaches him. "What can I do for you chief?

"Have ye seen Hiccup today? Been searching for him all day now."

"Haven't seen him. The Commander is most likely goofing off somewhere. Head in the clouds. I'm sure he will show up sir."

Stoick nods a little. "Where's your squadron?"

"They'll be along shortly. Finishing up some last minute training before supper. Making them the best they can be." Magnus brags.

"They're a fine squadron. Some of the best I've seen. Keep up the good work. I must be off."

"Another quick salute between them and Stoick is off.

"Bafoon." Magnus hisses under his breath as he continues to the mess hall.

* * *

Snotlout pushes through the brush at the back of the line. "Psst. Tuff."

Tuffnut who's a little ahead of him falls back so that they're walking side by side. "What is it?"

"I say we get the mask off our mystery guest. What do you think?

There's a loud snap of a branch being stepped on ahead of them as Tuffnut grins. "Let's do it."

The two of them take bigger steps to catch up to their lanky guest who is walking near the front of the squad. Only Astrid is ahead of him.

Snotlout pounces like a tiger, grappling the man's arms causing his rifle to fall to the forest floor.

"Snotlout! We don't have time for this." The man whines as he fights back.

Snotlout is surprised at how strong the man is. He didn't look that strong.

"Knock it off Snotlout!" Astrid yells as Tuffnut knocks the man's helmet off. Snotlout and the man are still scuffling as he tries to break free from Snotlout's hold.

"Let's see who you really are." Tuffnut cackles as he grabs the mask pulling it up and off to reveal…

"Commander?" Astrid asks in confusion.

Snotlout lets go of him fairly quickly upon learning it was Hiccup. This did not bode well for him.

Tuffnut recovers Hiccup's helmet and rifle from the leaves and hands them back to him while apologizing profusely.

"Why are you here? And why did you hide who you were?" Ruffnut asks before adding a quick "sir."

"I'm here for the same reason you are. To get more training. I wore the mask because my dad forbids me from doing any training that might be even close to dangerous. He doesn't want to risk the health of the heir to Berk." Hiccup explains to them all.

"Couldn't you just have told Magnus you were coming?" Fish questions.

"I could have yes. But then he would have reported it to my dad and I'm already on a short leash due to recent events. However, I wasn't expecting your squad leader to skip the jump. Nor was I expecting him to abandon you out here." Hiccup continues.

"By rank, you should be the one leading us." Astrid tells him.

"This isn't my squad. This is your squad. You're doing an amazing job leading. So I will not be assuming command." Hiccup informs her. "Although I will say that we still have a ways to go and it's starting to get dark."

Astrid smiles at him. "Then we better get moving."

* * *

Magnus sits with a few other Lieutenants. They're all finished eating and now are just shooting the shit.

Lieutenant Sam Spoken belches loudly. "Where's your Delta boys, Magnus? I don't see any of them here."

Sam is a good Lieutenant. But he's very soft spoken which earned him the nickname Soft Spoken Sam. He's a little too lenient though as the troops under his command tend to ignore his orders from time to time. With hair so blonde it nearly looks white and no facial hair, he was a bit of an oddity amongst Berkian men. He was definitely a career Lieutenant with promotions very unlikely in his future.

"Thought you had them out for parachute training today?" Wartihog Thorsbeard questions.

"I did. They haven't finished yet." Magnus' words are like acid, warning them to drop the subject.

Boom! The door to the mess hall flies open. Gobber steps in. "Thorsbeard, Spoken. Get your men together. You're being shipped out immediately. Formations on the parade grounds in fifteen."

And with that he exits the hall again.

"Maybe next time Magnus. We'll try to leave some Germans for you." Wartihog teases as he pushes his chair back in to the table.

A dark cloud of jealousy forms around Magnus. His men should be the ones going to war. They were more than ready.

The Lieutenants leave him to stew in his mood.

Darkness has set in, when Delta squad is nearing Camp Edge and Hiccup is working at getting his mask back on.

Astrid raises a quizzical eyebrow. "Why are you hiding Commander?"

"It's better this way. Trust me."

* * *

Magnus pushes open the door. He's still extremely crabby about being left behind. Seeing the two squads waiting to load in to the busses does nothing to improve his mood.

"Evening Lieutenant." Spitelout greets him with a smile.

Great. Is he going to torment me about not getting to go to war? Magnus thinks to himself. "have ye seen Snotlout? I been meaning ta talk to him. Ask him how training is going."

"He should be around Sir."

"Should be? Are you telling me you don't know the location of one of your squad members?"

"No Sir. Not at all Sir. He's with the rest of the squad." Magnus states.

"Which is where?"

A steady marching cadence can be heard off in the distance. "Who goes there?!" The MP at the gatehouse shouts.

"Delta Squad of the 10th BAF." A strong female voice responds.

Delta Squad members march out of the darkness.

"Night maneuvers?" Spitelout asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh… Yes Sir." Magnus says in an unsure tone.

The squad comes to a halt next to the other two.

Stoick gets there and is confused to see three squad standing in formation. "Lieutenant Redbeard. Why is your squad here? I only requested Alpha and Bravo squads."

Magnus leaves Spitelout's side. "My apologies Sir. It seems there was a miscommunication. Squad fall out!"

No one moves.

"Squad. Fall out!" He repeats and yet again no one moves a muscle.

"What's the meaning of this Redbeard?" Stoick questions gruffily.

"Permission to speak Sir." Astrid asks firmly.

"Permission denied." Magnus responds swiftly beating Stoick by seconds who says the opposite. "Permission granted."

"Lieutenant Redbeard air dropped us in the middle of nowhere with the assumption that there would be trucks to pick us up. Then we proceeded to land in an area without any leadership as he skipped out on the jump. No trucks were present and we had to organize and make our way back here.

"That's enough Cadet!" Magnus explodes. "I will not have you spreading your womanly lies to tear e down while moving yourself forward. I know your woman. You're all the same."

"You know nothing of your squad. Nor do you respect any of us!" Astrid explodes. "I've had enough of your belligerent attitude. Go fuck yourself."

"You just signed your dishonorable discharge. You'll be lucky if they don't throw you in jail. Get out of my sight." Magnus seethes.

"Enough!" Hiccup steps out of the lineup. "I've heard enough of this."

"Another Cadet with a big mouth looking to get kicked out too?" Magnus threatens as Hiccup approaches him.

Hiccup hauls the mask off. "Or a Commander who is sick of hearing about your horseshit. You dumped your men off and left them there. What kind of leader does that?"

Magnus is speechless. He wasn't expecting Hiccup to be in his squad.

Stoick is fuming. "Is this true?"

No answer.

"Follow me. Now." He head off without looking back. Magnus follows him.

"Someone's gonna get it." Ruffnut squawks from the back of the formation.

"Hiccup! You too!" Stoick booms without looking back.

Hiccup gives a last nod to the squad before heading off with Magnus. Magnus glares at Hiccup as they follow Stoick. How dare he get him in trouble. He's Lieutenant Redbeard soon to be a legend.

* * *

Stoick sits down at his desk and motions to the chairs across from him. The two men slide in to their seats and wait in silence while Stoick ponders what his next move will be.

"Demotion. To Warrant Officer. I'm also taking away Delta Squad."

"Sir that seems a little excessive." Magnus tries to rebuttal.

Stoick ignores him and continues. "Pack your bags. You're joining Spoken's squad."

"Sir."

"My orders stand." Stoick states firmly. "Now get out of my sight."

Magnus stands up, snaps a quick salute and leaves the room.

"You get your wish. Commander of Delta Squad of the 10th Squadron of the BAF. You will be judged harder than all other squad leaders. I expect nothing but the absolute best from you. If you can't give me that then I will find a replacement. Understood?" Stoick tells Hiccup in a rather professional tone, hiding any emotions that he may be feeling.

"I won't let you down dad." Hiccup reassures him.

"Be careful son. I don't want to lose you too." Stoick practicaly whispers.

The two men stand. Hiccup gives a crisp salute but Stoick chooses to be a father before a soldier this time and pulls his son in for a hug. His hugs were the best and worst all at the same time. It was like being hugged by an actual bear. Hiccup fights to get air in his lungs as his ribs feel like they're going to crack. "Can't breathe." He gasps and Stoick releases him.

* * *

Hiccup sits on his bunk. He has wanted to lead a squad for so long but now that it's actually happening he had no idea how he was going to lead a group of pilots. He definitely felt unsure of himself and his ability to lead but he couldn't be as bad as Magnus could he? If he failed what would people think of him leading the country? After all, his name held a lot of weight in Berk. A name held expectation but that didn't guarantee him respect or a golden ticket. The best was always expected from him.

He tossed and turned for a long time, troubled by his thoughts and doubts but eventually sleep found him.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally got another chapter done. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. i know mine was hectic and busy with very little time for writing. Chapter 5 is finished as well but still needs to be typed up. Hoping to get some free time to do that this weekend but we shall see with work. Hope you're all enjoying the story so far despite the long breaks between chapters. I was originally hoping to update weekly but once I started it seemed an impossible goal to reach. Anyways. I love hearing from my fans and I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **LG**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

 **May 27th, 1940 – Dunkirk**

* * *

Sam Spoken pilots his Spitfire at the lead of a three formation, the roar of Rolls Royce filling his ears. Two similar formations fly along with him. If Sam was being honest, he was quite amazed by the technologically advanced plane in which he was flying. They had nothing like it on Berk. At least not yet. Berkian pilots were gifted these technological marvels upon landing in England. A show of their gratitude for Berk coming to the call to arms and joining the ally army. These planes were used to take the fight to the Germans who seemed to be all but invincible. If defeat was a common outcome for the allies on the land and sea, perhaps they could make a difference in the air.

"What good will planes do at Dunkirk? They need boats." Marvin Muteson crackles over the radio.

Sam attaches his mask back over his mouth. "Can't get boats there without cover from the air. They're sitting ducks without us."

Marven and Sam looked a lot alike. So much so, that some even mistook them as brothers however if they were even related it was very distant.

"We shouldn't be flying so low." Magnus cuts in. He was still very much sore from losing his own squadron. He planned to do everything in his power to make Sam look bad.

Sam eyes the sky. He doesn't like being so low either. It's a prime position for a surprise attack. "We need to conserve fuel."

"At this height, at least we'll have something in common with the boats. We're both going to be sitting ducks." Marvin chuckles over the comm.

Sam frowns. It might have been meant to be a joke but it held a lot more truth to it than he would have liked. "Just keep watching the sun. They'll be coming from there." He squints at the sun, trying in vain to see if anything is coming.

"I'm raising my altitude." Magnus announces as he pulls back on the stick, pitching his plane upwards.

"Dammit Magnus! Stay in formation!" Sam growls in to his mic.

"Negative. I'm not putting lives at risk." Magnus replies smugly.

Sam's blood is boiling. Magnus would be getting an earful once they reached land again but at the moment he needed to keep his cool and stay focused on the job at hand. Others depended on his leadership even if some under his command refused to follow orders. "Olofsson. Keep watch on your right flank."

"Roger that, blue leader."

Dunkirk came in to view soon enough for the squadron of fighters. Thousands of soldiers lined the beach outside the city. "My god." Seamus Olofsson breathes out.

As if by instinct, Sam glances up at the sun using a hand to shield his eyes. Black pop out of the bright yellow circle. "Incoming Jerry's!"

"I got a bead on them." Magnus cackles as he and his two wingmen throttle forward.

Sam sighed heavily. Why had Stoick cursed him with Magnus. Now that buffoon was out to prove himself at the expense of all those around him. "Hang back. Hold off anyone who gets past them. Our orders are to protect the soldiers." Sam orders the rest of the squadron.

Magnus and his two wingmen open fire at the incoming Germans as they clash in to a desperate dogfight. Two Messerschmitt's and a Heinkel bomber. Bullets riddle the side of Magnus' Spitfire, causing him to curse as he banks right. He curses under his breath as he checks his gauges quickly making sure that everything checks out. "I got one on me." A wingman cackles urgently over the radio.

"I'm on him." The other wingman replies.

"I have the bomber." Magnus grins as he pushes the throttle faster. Taking aim he pulls the trigger. The guns in his Spitfires wings blaze fury from their tips as a storm of bullets tears towards the bomber.

* * *

Seamus Olofsson watches his Squadron mates taking on the German planes. He longed for battle, a way to step away from his rookie wings and get himself in to his first dogfight. He turns his plane away from the dogfight, circling the beach full of stranded troops.

Seamus was one of Alpha Squads youngest members. A bright young man of 19 years of age, he dreamt of being a commercial pilot after the war was done.

Dark smoke burst from the Heinkel and it began to falter in its flight. Bright red flames burst from its left engine and it didn't take long for the bomber to spiral downwards, exploding in a fiery mess against a nearly pristine French building. Members of the 10th Squadron, Alpha Squad cheered at the victory.

Seamus watches on in awe. Magnus was so lucky. He couldn't wait to get his first bomber take down.

"Eat your heart out gentlemen. There won't be another take down like that one for a while." Magnus gloats over the radio.

Thunder claps against the side of Seamus' plane, as bullets tear through the thin metal of the fuselage. His attention is instantly pulled out of the celebration. He glances out his cockpit at the incoming Messerschmitt as a bullet tears in to his knee. Bone, blood and muscle explode all over the cockpit floor. "Aaa-" His scream is cut short as another bullet tears through his neck.

Eyes wide, he gurgles and chokes on his own blood as he grasps frantically at his neck, trying in vain to stop the bleeding. As his plane begins to wobble in its flight, he attempts to stay airborne with one of his hands while the other fails at stopping the flow of bright red liquid.

Seamus' consciousness is fading fast, Sam's voice barely reaching him over the radio. "Break away!"

* * *

Sam watches Seamus' plane slowly pitch forward, its nose pointing towards the ground. Despite the blood spattered glass of the cockpit, Sam can still see the fatally wounded man fighting desperately for his life and failing. Even from the distance between the two planes Sam can tell that the wounds were indeed life ending.

Consciousness leaves Seamus entirely as he crashes forward against the stick sending his Spitfire careening towards the beach. Soldiers fall over one another as they try to get out of the planes path. One soldier stands frozen in fear. Unable to move and his mouth hanging open he can do nothing but stare at the plane. The boy isn't very old. Seventeen maybe eighteen. Fresh out of England he was in Dunkirk now as he thought it was the right thing to do. Join the army. Go to war, make a little money and woo all the girls with his uniform. Sitting on Dunkirk beach, trapped by the enemy from all sides was not the way he had envisioned this experience to be. He was still very much a boy. Scared and longing for home.

"Oh." Was all the young man got out of his mouth as the plane smashed in to him, the explosion engulfing many other soldiers in flames. Friends and other soldiers drag flaming soldiers to the beach waters, trying their best to extinguish the fires from their clothing and flesh. Not all can be saved unfortunately.

Sam doesn't have any time to dwell on the loss of Corporal Olofsson as he pitches his Spitfire to the left. The air battle for Dunkirk beach has begun and if a pilot were to allow their focus elsewhere for even a moment it could spell the end for them.

* * *

"I thought you guys hated Magnus." Astrid says in a hushed tone so as not to alert Hiccup.

Their group had another day of wargames in the bush. They were set up in an ambush formation and were now playing the waiting game. Astrid being Astrid had the best hiding place. She was at the cusp of a grassy knoll and had set herself up with loose grass and other shrubbery to act as camouflage.

Things had been different with Delta squad since Hiccup had taken command. Everything was more cool and calm. More about calculated decisions and less about raw brawn.

"We still hate him. But atleast in a situation like this we would hit the enemy head on. This sneaking around stuff feels a lot like cheating." Ruffnut mindlessly pulls a weed out of the ground in front of her foxhole.

"This sneaking around stuff." Astrid uses Ruff's words sarcastically. "will keep us alive when shit gets real. You charge in guns blazing in real life and there will be a lot of casualties." Astrid keeps her eyes trained on the forest, scanning for any kind of movement.

Snotlout crawls out of his foxhole and stays crouched as he makes his way to Hiccup's command post, a foxhole dug in next to a towering oak tree with camo netting draped down.

Hiccup glances up from his map as Snotlout slides in to his hole. "Can I help you?"

"Why are we just waiting here? We should be out there searching for them." Snotlout huffs.

Hiccup circles a spot on his map with a pen. "We have the high ground. With the high ground comes advantage." Hiccup traces an imaginary line with his finger on the map, a potential path for his scouts to take.

"This is stupid." Snotlout doesn't give him a chance to respond as he scrambles out of the command post heading back for his foxhole.

Hiccup groans. He knew Snotlout was going to give him problems but he was really hoping that his cousin would wisen up eventually.

Snotlout's boots land in the shallow foxhole that he and Tuffnut shared. They had been too lazy to dig a proper one and now were forced in to an awkward crouch to defend their position.

"What's the plan?" Tuff asks as he toys with the sights on his gun.

"Apparently we sit and wait." Snotlout utters in disgust. He peeks up and looks around at the other members of Delta Squad, searching for others that appear to be growing impatient.

"That's lame." Tuff states as he looks down his sights, seemingly satisfied.

"Get Ruff. I'll get Fish. We'll do our own thing. The real way. Fuck this sitting around." Snotlout crawls back out of the foxhold.

* * *

Fishlegs has his large body prone behind a log. His rifle is covered with sticks, leaves and grass. Ever the good soldier, he kept his gun at the ready as that was what he was told to do.

Snotlout crouches down next to him and Fish recognizes the look on his face. He was up to no good.

"Hiccup wants us to go on patrol." Snotlout attempts to sound genuine.

"The commander said that?" Fishlegs asks skeptically.

"That he did. You, me, Ruff and Tuff." Snotlout affirms.

"Why would he want me to go on patrol? The biggest guy in the squad. I can't even walk across grass without making a racket." Fishlegs questions. "And why so many on a patrol? A patrol squad is usually only two."

Snotlout shrugs his shoulders and pulls a piece of fungi off the log, tossing it in to the forest. "Never questioned it."

Astrid curses as Ruff leaves her foxhole. The twins were trouble enough on their own. When they were together they were even harder to control. But nothing was like when they were influenced by Snotlout. Then they were a nightmare.

She glances over at Snotlout's foxhole which is now lying empty leaving her flank open. Did Hiccup even know what he was doing, leaving a gap like that in their perimeter?

* * *

Ruff and Tuff join Fish and Snotlout at the log.

"Ready to do this?" Tuff asks excitedly.

"This seems like the most disruptive scouting party ever." Fishlegs notes. "Are you sure Commander Haddock ordered us as a scouting party?"

"It's not Commander Haddock. His name is Hiccup." Snotlout corrects.

"He's our commanding officer. I don't think it's regulation to call him by his first name." Fishlegs squeaks out in a barely audible whisper.

"If I wanted your opinion I would ask for it." Snotlout growls. "Now let's go."

He jumps in to action before anyone else can argue with him, not that the twins would argue with him. Only Fish was unsure of what they were doing but he followed the other three closely as he was under the impression that he was following Hiccup's orders.

Their guns at the ready as they move away from Delta squad's perimeter, a blade of grass slides past Snotlout's gun. The sounds of sticks snapping lightly echoes through the forest. Tuffnut chuckles quietly as he scans his surroundings.

* * *

Starkard crawls up to Hiccup's netting. "Commander."

Hiccup glances up from his map again. "Yes Starkard?"

"Jorgenson took a group outside the perimeter."

Hiccup freezes. This was not part of the plan. He drops his compass on the map and pushes out of his foxhole. He crawls as quickly as he can and pushes against the log that Fishlegs had been stationed at.

"Snotlout! Get back here." Hiccup hisses in a loud whisper but Snotlout acts like he doesn't hear the order and continues forward.

Fishlegs freezes. "I thought you said the Commander ordered us to be out here?"

"Shut up Fish Face and keep moving." Snotlout growls as he pushes himself up against a tree, rifle at the ready.

Tuffnut pushes past him. He steps on a stick and it snaps loudly. Everyone freezes. Tuff glances around but what he doesn't see is a set of hands reaching out of the foliage and clamping a hand around his mouth.

Charlie squad soldiers step out of the bushes where they were blended in. Snotlout's little group is surrounded. Hiccup curses loudly.

A man with a clipboard comes out of the woods and joins Hiccup. Vincent Longstride. Born in Wales, he moved to Berk at a very young age and had joined the army where he moved up the ranks in administration. Now with Hiccup running Delta squad it was his duty to run things like the wargames.

"You've lost a quarter of your soldiers Commander. Return to camp and prep for your next match." Vincent tells him without looking up from his clipboard where he's jotting down notes.

Hiccup is fuming as Vincent heads off to congratulate Charlie Squads leader, Ulf Varanger. A short stocky man with skewed facial features that made him look like a caricature of Tom Cruise.

Hiccup stays silent while Delta squad heads back towards the muster point.

"I definitely think we could have taken them on in a head on fight. Even if they did have us surrounded." Snotlout drawls which causes Hiccup to tense even more.

"What squad are we up against?" Ruffnut asks innocently.

Hiccup explodes as he rears around at Snotlout jamming a finger in to his cousin's chest. "Do you have memory problems that keep you from following orders or are you just so stupid that you are incapable of doing so?!"

"Chill out dude. I made one decision for you. Big deal." Snotlout tries to brush it off.

"You disobeyed an order and took three others with you. Had we been at war you would have gotten them killed along with yourself for being a completely incompetent idiot."

"Insult me one more time…" Snotlout clenches his fists.

"And you'll do what? Hit me. You want to hit your commanding officer? Go ahead. Show your dad just how big of a failure you truly are."

"Maybe you should relax. It's just a game. I'll get them next time." Snotlout strains to maintain control of his anger.

"There won't be a next time because the next time you disobey orders I will personally kick you out of my squad and see to it that you never get your wings." Hiccup threatens. "Is that understood?"

The threat of refusing his wings hit deeply in Snotlout. "What's your problem? You think that just because you're the high and mighty Prince of Berk you can just boss us all around like we're you're servants?"

"My problem, Cadet, is that I'm the leader of this squad and as the leader I am personally responsible for everyone in it. As much as I don't like it, that includes you. And I can't make decisions for this squad if I have someone constantly undermining me and trying to mutiny my command. So get in line or get out." Hiccup fumes to everyone's surprise. This is the first time any of them have seen him this mad.

He stomps off, shouting over his shoulder. "You have twenty minutes. Meet back here on time or you will be packing your bags."

Snotlout watches him go. "What a dickhead. Thinks he's all high and mighty waving his rank around.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Astrid can't even begin to comprehend how Snotlout can't see the error in his decisions.

Snotlout is slightly offended. "What?"

"You disobeyed an order and brought the whole squad down with you. This is a team. Not a dick measuring competition." Astrid expresses her disappointment in his selfishness.

"I know it's not a dick measuring competition, Astrid, because if it was, I would win." Snotlout retorts.

Her eyes roll involuntarily upon hearing his statement. "That's seriously all you heard there? Hiccup is right. You are stupid." She's about to leave but stops. "Hiccup is a better leader than you could ever hope to be, so follow his lead or be considered the squad's new Magnus."

She shoves past him as she heads for the Delta squad bunkhouse.

"I think she likes you." Tuffnut whispers loudly.

"You dolt. She obviously has a thing for Hiccup." Ruffnut slaps him upside the head."No one would defend someone who lacks muscles like that unless they had a thing for them."

Astrid clenches her fists at the twins' words but continues on pretending like she hadn't heard them.

* * *

Engines roar as three training planes plow through the air in V formation above Berk. A red one leads with two blue ones on the wings. Astrid is in the red plane with Snotlout on one wing and Fishlegs on the other. Adrenaline is pumping through her veins as she adjusts to the controls of the plane.

Hiccup is watching from the ground using a set of binoculars. They're an old pair and the black paint has already begun flaking off of them but they had sentimental value for him. They were a gift to him from his father and had belonged to his mother years ago. "Snotlout, ease in a little closer, you're falling away from formation." He speaks over a mic.

"Roger that." Snotlout answers back as he pulls back in to a tighter formation.

"On my mark, break." Hiccup tells them. Waiting and watching them for the perfect moment. "Mark!"

The three planes snap out of formation as if beginning to engage in a dog fight.

"Well done, Hiccup! I'm impressed." Gobber stands behind him with Stoick by his side.

"Thanks Gobber. But I'm not doing anything." He points up at the planes. "They're the ones you should be praising."

Stoick was just there for a professional inspection and had no thought of talking to his son but hearing him say those words he couldn't help but smile. Those were the words of a true leader. "Keep up the great work son." He says gruffly with a quick smile before he heads off again.

Hiccup is shocked. A compliment from his dad was a big thing. Stoick was not a man for giving out compliments. They were few and far between. The last compliment he had received had been when Hiccup was 12. He had won an archery competition. His father was ever the believer that the old style of fighting should never be forgotten and when Hiccup had won, he had been extremely proud. And since Hiccup had taken over Delta squad his father had acted like someone had skimped on the meat in his sandwich and so Hiccup assumed he would never hear another compliment again.

* * *

Magnus banks right, followed by a quick left. He's trying to shake off a German fighter plane. "Someone get him off me." Magnus snarls to his comrades.

"Little busy at the moment." An answer comes back.

"I don't care if you're on the toilet mid shit, get the fuck over here and get him off me." Magnus hisses as he snaps his spade stick to the left bringing his Spitfire up and over in a corkscrew.

The ME-109 sticks right on his ass. "I'm bringing him to you." Magnus says quickly.

He zooms by dangerously close in front of a Spitfire. "Jesus Alpha-6 you nearly hit me." Bjorn Horik scowls as he shouts through the radio. Pack-pack-pack. Bullet hits ring out in his cockpit just as the ME-109 slams in to the back half of his plane, the impact shearing off the back section of his Spitfire.

"I'm going down." Lost all control." Bjorn grunts through his teeth as G-forces from the dive put their effects on his body.

"Eject." Sam Spoken echoes over the radio.

Bjorn struggles as he reaches for the eject lever. His fingers fumble at it as his peripheral vision fades away. He struggles to keep his eyes open.

His fingers hook the lever and he pulls at it with no luck. "Damn thing is jammed!" Panic fills his voice.

The ground is coming up dangerously fast. He's running out of time. His chute won't have time to open. He uses the last of his strength and pulls one last time. Success! He fires out of the Spitfire and his chute starts opening up.

Bjorn watches in horror as the ground comes up dangerously fast. His shoot isn't going to open in time… He yells in alarm as he hits the ground, the chute having just enough time to make the landing less than fatal. Maiming is another story as both of Bjorn's ankles are shattered on impact. He shrieks as he attempts to get out of the parachute pack but the pain is too much to function properly.

"I can see him, Alpha leader. Chute deployed… barely."

"Return to base. There's nothing we can do for him now." Sam orders his squadron. He is furious and Magnus was going to feel his wrath once they returned to base.

Bjorn's screams alert a nearby German patrol and they are quick to take him prisoner.

* * *

The remaining members of Alpha squad pass over hundreds of boats, hauling rescued soldiers back to England. The sight is disgusting to Magnus. Retreat should never be an option. Retreating is for cowards and cowards should be terminated. In war you either win or you die. You don't run.

* * *

Magnus walks in to the barracks. Sam marches in hot on his heels, fury written as plain as day on his face.

"Problem?" Magnus inquires with a quirked eyebrow.

Sam is flabbergasted by that question. Does this man… moron? Not realize the graveness of his actions? "Really? You're asking me if I have a problem? Of course I have a fucking problem!"

"Then tell someone who gives a shit." Magnus says as he tries to push past.

Sam is having none of this idiot's bullshit. He grabs Magnus by the front of the shirt and shoves him against the wall of the barracks. "Two pilots are dead because of you."

"Actually there's a good chance that one of them lived. Besides if they weren't such terrible pilots they would still be here." Magnus says smugly.

Sam jerks him forward and slams him to the wall again, forcing his head to hit the wood. "Is this a fucking joke to you?"

"This is war Lieutenant. We are going to lose people. Learn to deal with it." He pushes Sam off of him and heads towards his bunk.

"Next time you disobey a direct order, it will be your last time flying, Warrant Officer Redbeard." Sam tosses Magnus' rank at him like an insult making it clear that to the man that he is still a subordinate.

Magnus tosses his flight helmet on his bed holding back a few choice words that he would love to spew at Lieutenant Spoken but holds his tongue. He was next in line to command this platoon and soon enough Sam would make a mistake and he would get another platoon. A better platoon this time.

* * *

 **A/N: It's been a long time. Not by choice. Just hectic with work and life. Hopefully I'll get a few chapters written and typed up. Chapter 6 is finished but still needs to be typed up. Hope you all are doing great and hope you stick with my stories even though I'm a very sporadic writer. Writing moods come and go and free time seems to be a luxury I have little of lately. Anyways. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I look forward to hearing from you all. I may not respond to the reviews but know that I enjoy reading them.**

 **Until next chapter. Enjoy. and if you have any questions ask away and I'll do my best to answer.**

 **LG**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Spitfires cruise down a runway one by one lifting in to the air. Air horns are sounding loudly. Pilots are streak across the tarmac to their planes.

Magnus lines his plane up on the runway. The ground man gives him the signal that it's his turn. He jams the throttle and his Spitfire lurches forward. He speeds down the runway, air catching at the bottoms of the wings. He pulls back on the stick and he has liftoff.

Spitfires get in formation as best as they can but the German planes are closing in quickly. The allied formation consists of many countries. Canada, Britain, Berk and lone pilots who joined from places like Poland and Norway. Some even from smaller independent islands very similar to Berk.

Sam Spokane shields his eyes from the sun. Of course the German's would raid in the morning. They'd be stupid not to use the rising sun to their advantage. He spots the outlines of planes. It's a full squadron. They are in for quite the fight. "Lock and load Alpha Squad."

Magnus pushes his plane to the limit, pulling out ahead. "This is Alpha 4, taking the lead."

Sam doesn't have time to curse him. "Break!"

Alpha squad breaks apart except for Magnus who is in an intense game of chicken with the German squad leader. He pulls the trigger spraying a rain of lead but the German is quicker as he veers off to the left.

All hell breaks loose as Allied and German planes fill the skies like swarming mosquitoes. Lead punctures thin metal sheeting on both sides.

The Messerschmitt BF109's do their best to ignore the planes in the air as they head for their true target. The runway where pilots are still trying to get to their planes. Cripple the runway and you minimize the amount of forces that can be mustered.

Lieutenant Thorsbeard sits in his Spitfire, a jeep in his way. A private is sitting in the jeep but he doesn't drive anywhere.

"Move it!" Wartihog yells at the private.

The ME109's are howling as they dive in. Sam is on their backs with Corporal Ragnar Sigurd tagging along on his wing. "I'm on your four, Lieutenant."

"Roger that Alpha 6. Hold steady. On my mark." Sam keeps the 109's in his sights, steadying his aim.

Corporal Cole "Clueless" Ragnar sits on the runway. The rest of Alpha Squad are in the air, except him and Lieutenant Thorsbeard. "Ready for takeoff Sir." He informs Wartihog.

"Go without me, Corporal. This idiot in the jeep is blocking me in." Wartihog responds before yelling at the Private again. "Move your fucking ass!"

Clueless punches it and barrels down the runway.

The ME109's begin to drop their bombs. One smashes in to the ground harmlessly away from everything. Another blows through the roof of a British barracks, catching the wooden building on fire.

Sam chews his lips and squints his eyes. "I got the left. You take the right Alpha 6."

Bullets rattle through Ragnar's spitfire tearing in to his body. The force knocks a cough out of him, blood dribbles down his chin. He gasps for air, as his hands grasp at the wounds. One of his lungs was definitely pierced and he was bleeding profusely from multiple wounds. Eyes drooping as the life force is leaving him. Fortunately for his benefit he doesn't have to witness his fiery demise. Consciousness leaves him and if he wasn't dead before his plane hit the ground, the explosion finished the job.

"Alpha 6?"

"He's gone." Muteson grunts as he snaps his Spitfire in to a barrel roll. The dogfight is getting increasingly hairy.

Sam doesn't have time to mourn the loss of a comrade as he pulls the trigger unleashing hell in the form of .303 rounds on to the ME109's as bullets blast out of the Spitfire's Browning guns.

His bullets tear in to the 109, hitting the fuel tank engulfing the plane in flames. The other 109 pulls up and heads back for the sky with Sam hot on his tail.

Clueless' voice crackles over the radio. "Heinkels coming in! I'm on them."

The Private in the jeep looks to the sky and stares at the fiery inferno of the blazing ME109. His jaw flaps in fear but no words come out. He acts quickly as he jams the vehicle in gear and floors the gas.

"About time!" Wartihog exclaims as he gets set to take off. He glances up at the sky and immediately spots the incoming fire ball. "Fuck."

He grabs his cockpit cover pushing it back as fast as he can and grabs hold of his buckle. It doesn't release. He tries again, still stuck. His eyes watch as the burning plane comes careening closer. His fingers still work the buckle. Click! He's loose. He jumps up, placing a foot on the edge of the cockpit and pushes to jump away from the plane. He's too late as the fiery German plane plows in to him. Both planes and Wartihog disappears in the inferno.

"Clueless. Ericks. With me!" Robert Bobsled announces.

"Roger that." The two respond as they position in a V formation. They are heading for the Heinkels.

"Keep steady and watch out for those turrets." Robert tells them.

Sam is back in the fight. An ME109 tears by him dangerously close to him. Stray bullets bite in to his wing and he curses.

"Another one down!" Magnus brags over the radio.

Clueless watches, waiting for Robert's call but his nerves get the best of him and he pulls the trigger, holding it in as his guns blaze fire.

"Hold your fire. Hold your fire." Robert tells him through the radio but he can only hear the pounding of his own heart in his ears.

In no time at all his guns run empty, clicking as he tries the trigger a couple times extra to make sure. "Fuck… I'm out."

That's a real shocker." Ingrid drawls out sarcastically.

"Peel off. You're no good to us up here." Robert tells him. Ready your guns Ericks.

The Heinkel's front turret's cannons open fire. Bullet's dinging off the Spitfires. "Now!"

Ingrid's Spitfire takes a bullet to the engine, which burps a flame out the side before smoking profusely.

"My engine's hit." Ingrid announces as she opens fire. Her rounds begin to miss as the nose of her plane begins to dip down. The Spitfire's engine can't produce enough power to keep the thing in the air.

"Eject." Robert says through gritted teeth as bullets shoot past. His guns are blazing and one of the Heinkels burst in to flames, finding the ground swiftly and in a splendid light show.

Ingrid takes her plane to the runway, engine smoking and knocking but holding together somehow. It coughs one last time and dies. She curses as works at keeping the plane level. This was going to be one rough landing.

The wheels slam down causing the landing gear to creak and groan loudly before giving out. The belly of the Spitfire crashes down on to the gravel, scraping and digging in before coming to a rough halt.

She gets out of the plane, jumping down to the ground from the cockpit. She stumbles, falling to her knees but is helped up by ground troops.

AA cannons fire up at the Heinkel's, doing their best to avoid the messy dogfight so as to not hit their own planes. Another Heinkel goes down. The last Heinkel drops its payload before turning tail and running with a smoking engine.

"The Heinkel's retreating." Magnus states as he's looking in the mirror of his Spitfire.

"Let him go." Sam tells him as he pulls his plane upwards and to the left, trying to shake off a 109. "I have one on my tail. Can't shake him."

Magnus watches Sam's Spitfire barrel roll with tracer bullets zipping past. He glances again at the retreating Heinkel. "I could use a hand here." Sam states in an alarmed tone.

Magnus snaps his stick to the side. Sam would have to figure it out on his own. He zips off after the Heinkel with his throttle mashed full speed.

Sam turns hard to the right, cursing under his breath as the ME109 fires another burst. Bullet's hit Sam's Spitfire causing shrapnel to pierce his side. He grunts in pain, grabbing his side with his free hand, his other one never leaving the stick. "I'm hit."

"Keep him occupied. I'll get him." Igor Thorschild says.

Igor was a very quiet spoken member of Baker squad but he was a hell of talent when it came to piloting.

"What do you think I've been doing?" Sam chuckles.

Igor lines up the 109. "Turn left on my mark." He places a hand on the trigger. "Mark!"

Sam cranks his Spitfire to the hard left, forcing the 109 to cross Igor's crosshairs. He pulls the trigger and fills the plane with lead. The plane falters before careening down in to the grassy land below.

Magnus aims at the Heinkel through his crosshairs as the rear cannon fires back at him in defence. Magnus does his best to avoid the oncoming bullets while keeping his crosshairs on the bomber. A bang as a bullet punctures Magnus' fuel tank. He curses at his luck. "I've been hit. Not bad but losing fuel."

"They're turning tail." Marvin observes as the remaining enemy planes peel off towards France.

"Do we give chase? Igor asks.

"Negative." Sam replies. "Land. We've done enough today."

"I can still get him." Magnus says as he fires a burst, narrowly missing the Heinkel.

"It's not worth it. Let him go." Sam orders him.

Magnus is disgusted by that answer. "Why? So that he can repair and come bomb us again? He's going down."

He fires again at the Heinkel, blowing out the rear defence turret. "One more burst should do it." Magnus practically whispers.

He pulls the trigger one last time and is greeted with a click. He's empty. "Fuck!" He's forced to turn back.

* * *

Hiccups' squad is up in the air, in perfect formation. Hiccup leads from the front of the pack. "On my mark, we break."

He takes a last look at his gauges. "Break."

The twelve planes expertly scatter in to their combat maneuvers. Each pilot has their own objective to get to and Hiccup has to keep an eye on them all. "Snotlout. You're getting a little too close to the tree tops. Fishlegs. Don't hesitate when going through barrel rolls. Ruffnut, you're getting too close to Tuffnut. Sven ease off on the throttle some. Astrid… Perfect as always."

Astrid smiles to herself. She wanted to be the best in the squad.

Hiccup continues to issue different orders. Most are just adjustments. He's impressed with his squad. They are the best there is.

Hiccup pulls his plane to the side of the tarmac and hops out. His crew is gathering near the edge of the airfield, in perfect formation.

He approaches them. "At ease."

They relax a little from attention and Hiccup speaks to them. "This squad is the best squad in our air force. It's even the best I've seen since I've been part of the military. I've seen a lot of recruits come through here but I have never witnessed a crew with as much raw talent as this once."

"Even Snotlout?" Tuffnut inquires which gets a laugh from everyone including Hiccup.

Hiccup continues. "Yes. Even Snotlout. With the refining you've received over the last few months, you have become an elite fighting force, the like of which this world has never seen. When it is our turn to meet the enemy we will strike fear in to their very souls."

"Commander Haddock." Everyone turns to observe an approaching messenger. "The General wishes to see you."

Hiccup nods. "You're free for the evening." Then heads off with the messenger.

* * *

Delta squad members are in their barracks doing their own things. "What do you think the chief wants with Hiccup?" Ruffnut asks the squad as she roughhouses with Tuff.

Snotlout is doing pull ups on the bunkhouse's wooden beam. "Probably to be ordered to give command of Delta squad over to someone more qualified like myself."

Astrid looks up from writing a letter to her family. "You? Dream on. If you were half the leader as you are a talker then maybe you might be qualified to lead but sadly you're not."

"Babe. The writing is right on the wall." He lets one hand go and starts doing one armed chin ups. "Can Hiccup do this?"

"I don't see what doing that has to do with leading a squad. You couldn't even lead 3 men." Starkard says as he glances up from his book.

"Oh yeah. If you're so smart, who do you think should lead?" Snotlout let's go of the beam and lands on his feet.

Starkard goes back to his book. Snotlout puffs out his chest. "That's what I thought."

* * *

Hiccup enters Stoick's office and stands at attention.

"No need to be official, son." Stoick waves a massive hand towards him.

Hiccup tosses himself in the seat across from his father, draping his lanky figure over the arms of the chair.

Stoick pulls a couple of glasses from his desk along with Berk's finest mead. That tips Hiccup off and he cocks an eyebrow as Stoick pours them each a drink.

He hands it to him. Hiccup finally breaks the silence. "What's this?"

"Mead." Stoick answers gruffly as he downs his own. He refills his mug.

Hiccup chuckles as he takes a sip. Hiccup wasn't much of a drinker but he didn't want to disappoint his father. "I meant why Berk's finest?" Hiccup asks quietly.

There's another long silent pause. Hiccup sips his drink again while Stoick twirls his in his hand, examining the glass.

He finally breaks the silence. "You're going to war."

Hiccup's jaw drops. "What?"

Stoick takes another sip. "You heard me. You're going to war."

"You can't be serious. What… What about Changewing Squad?"

Stoick laughs. "What about them? You've seen them for yourself, have you not? They far from ready. They're not Berk warriors yet and Europe needs warriors."

"Warriors? Delta isn't warriors." Hiccup laughs nervously. "They are all cadets. Still in training."

"Give them ranks that they are deserving of. Changewing Squadron isn't even close to being ready. We need to send Delta. You're the best we have. The best that has come out of Berk in years." Stoick tells him.

Hiccup notices that his father is conflicted about sending him off to war. "You're sure about this?"

"If I had another option, I would take it. Believe me. Sending you to the front was not what I ever wanted." Stoick asserts.

Hiccup downs the rest of his mead and is silent for a moment. "I won't let you down dad."

Hiccup makes to leave. "Son." He stops and looks back at his dad. "Be careful."

He nods to his dad.

* * *

Hiccup enters the bunkhouse and gathers the squad for an announcement.

Snotlout puffs up his chest. "Thank you Hiccup. I won't let you down."

Hiccup raises an eyebrow at that. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Snotlout playfully punches Hiccup's shoulder. "Oh stop. We all know you're here to put me in charge of the squadron with Astrid as my second in command."

Hiccup rolls his eyes. "You have one thing correct in your assumptions, Snotlout. Astrid will indeed be second in command. Say hello to Lieutenant Hofferson."

* * *

Hiccup issued out all the ranks. The twins were awarded Corporal status, Fishlegs and Snotlout Warrant Officers and Starkard and Sven were given Sergeant. The rest are made Corporals as well.

The bunkhouse is bustling as everyone shows off their new ranks. They wasted no time at all in stitching on their badging.

"Another thing!" Hiccup shouts and everyone settles down except the twins.

"I command you to make my bed." Tuffnut says to his sister. "And that's an order."

"We're the same rank, idiot." Ruffnut rebuttles before they realize that everyone else is watching them.

"You two dummies finished?" Snotlout asks.

"We are never finished!" Tuffnut declares loudly.

"As I was saying! Pack your things." Hiccup shouts.

That brings instant silence as everyone stares at him. "Awww. You're kicking us out?! No fair. We were just promoted." Ruffnut whines as she hits her head against a wooden post.

"Hey. That looks like fun. Let me try." Tuffnut slams his head against a post too.

Hiccup palms his face. "No one is being sent home. We're going to war."

Silence overtakes the room. You could hear a pin drop on the wooden floor.

"Woooooo!" Silence broken by non-other than Tuffnut. He whoops loudly as he slams open his trunk and shoves all his belongings in to his rucksack.

"To war?" Steven Varanger pales.

The nineteen year old joined the army because he wanted to make a difference but now that they were finally going to the front lines he wasn't sure if he was ready. He came from a simple family of yak farmers and as his mother told him he 'has no business flying a plane.'

"What if I don't come back?" His voice is barely audible but it has a serious impact around the room. No one had considered that they wouldn't make it back home to Berk.

Hiccup clears his throat. "I can't guarantee that you will make it home. The only thing I can guarantee is that as long as we stick together we will have our best shot at all coming home. Together, we are unstoppable." Hiccup tells them all. "Despite my status as Prince of Berk, I will be there to lead you forward for every mission. None of you will be forsaken on my watch."

His eyes go from one Delta member to another as he speaks. No one dares interrupt him. "Make your final arrangements. Update your wills. Call your families. We move out at the end of the week."

"Ten days!?" Ruffnut exclaims.

"A week is five days, idiot." Tuffnut yells at his sister.

Hiccup closes his eyes. Those two were great pilots but brains was something they seriously lacked in. "We leave on Saturday."

Tuffnut starts counting his fingers. "So… eight days?"

Fishlegs scrunches up his face. "How have you two managed to survive this long?

"Oo. Oo. I know the answer to this! We managed to survive by living and not dying." Tuffnut states proudly.

Everyone stares at him.

"Did I get it right?"

No one bothers to give him an answer as they slowly return to their packing.

* * *

Hiccup hunches over as a wave crashes on to the deck of the RMS Cameronia. Despite his efforts to stay as dry as possible, his standard issue Berk rain cloak was not designed to repel waves.

The cloaks were made in Berk out of wool and then coated in a thick layer of wax to repel water. They had been designed after the same cloaks that the legionnaires used in Ancient Rome. Hiccup had even inquired about getting an update for the dated piece of equipment but his father answer was a simple one. "If it was good enough for hundreds of years for the Romans then it's good enough for Berk."

Now as the chilly Atlantic water runs down the back of his neck he wished he had pushed towards getting an update. Even something that was more of a coat and less of a cloak.

He makes it to a door and he tries to open it but the water makes his hands slip on the metal wheel. Cursing he heads for higher ground. He should have stayed below deck in weather like this but he had had enough noise and commotion and he just wanted some peace and quiet.

The rough waters were greatly welcomed at first but they great rougher and they became very unwelcomed when the first wave crashed over the deck, soaking Hiccup's combat boots.

He reaches a staircase and clings to the railing as another wave crashes on to the deck.

He pulls the cloak tighter as he curses the weather and the boat. "What kind of and idiot send pilots on a ship." He grumbles out loud to himself.

He finally makes it to the top deck, his soaked boots squeaking on the steel floor. He stops at the railing facing the front of the ship and watches the troop ship cut through the raging storm waters.

"Don't like the warm dry indoors Commander?"

He turns his head to find an equally soaked, cloak clad Astrid walking towards him.

"I prefer the safety of a cockpit. The inside of a steel coffin leaves me uneasy." He tells her as he attempts to wipe the rain out of his eyes with his sleeve.

She joins him at the railing as a spray of sea hits them. Astrid pulls her cloak tighter. "Would be nice to have proper raincoats."

"I've fought with dad countless times about that issue and his answer is always the same." He changes his voice to a strong accented tone to mimic his father's crudely. "Son. Good enough for the Roman's, good enough for Berk."

A small laugh escapes her lips before she catches herself and schools her expression again.

"What funny?" He inquires.

"It's just weird to hear you talk about the General so non-chalantly." She explains.

"To everyone else he's the big scary General. But to me he's just… my big scary dad." Hiccup laughs a little.

A light flickers in the distance. "There's England." Hiccup states as he points out the light for Astrid to see. "Better get down there and prepare to disembark.

* * *

Shouldering his gear, Hiccup walks across the gangplank, the rest of his squad behind him. The weather is still foul and the rain has intensified.

A Lieutenant is on the dock waiting for him. He gives Hiccup a crisp salute that Hiccup returns. "Welcome to London, Commander Haddock. We've been expecting you. Your quarters are all set up at Debden airfield. This M2 halftrack will take your men there."

Hiccup is a little surprised to see an American halftrack here. Especially in the middle of London. "Are you expecting a lot of mud where we're going?"

"Testing them out, Sir. An order of them landed fresh from the USA."

* * *

Astrid looks around the camp. It leaves little to be desired. A bunch of green military tents set up near the tree line near the airfield. The Lieutenant said something about making less of a target for the German's but she called bullshit on that because the British pilots still got a wooden barracks to sleep in. Even some of Berk's pilots that had been here for some time had gotten in to the barracks after winning a bed in various gambling matches.

None of them has seen Hiccup since they arrived, which was more than a little weird. He usually would check in on them by now. She had taken the initiative to make sure everyone was situated but now that she had a free moment she decided to check on him.

His tent was an easy one to find as it was bigger and stood away from the others but also had the Berk crest on the side of it. Now that she was standing outside his tent she couldn't decide if she should yell in to him or not. She bit her lip before finally shouting in. "Commander? You in there?"

She hears something crash over inside the tent and Hiccup curses before answering her. "Come in Lieutenant."

Before she's even through the flap door he's telling her to be at ease.

"Everyone is wondering where you're at." She says cautiously while looking around. All his gear was strewn about his cot and his rucksack sat empty. Highly unlike Hiccup to be so messy. He stood in a corner hunched over his officer's desk drawing frantically. "I thought up a way to improve our planes while we were on our way here. I had to get it on paper immediately before I lost it." He explains to her without being asked.

She glances at his drawings. They are highly detailed and yet still complete gibberish to her.

"Want me to explain them?" He asks her and she can't help but notice the twinkle of excitement in his eyes.

She can't say no to improving their planes and soon he is talking very animatedly as he explains everything on his drawings in words that she can understand instead of the engineering jargon written on his drawings.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow. So finally a new update. Sorry for the long wait. Lots of stuff happened. Laptop shit the bed. Had to save up enough to get myself a new one and bought a house. So big events and so little free time for writing. I apologize to all those who were following the story before my hiatus but hopefully were back and I can get some quality writing done in a reasonable amount of time. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Let me know your thoughts. I love hearing from fans. Makes the writing experience so much more enjoyable. Until the next chapter.**

 **LG**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

* * *

Snotlout lowers his feet from his cot, landing sock feet in the mud on the ground. "Fucking place. Never stops raining long enough to dry up. Just rain and mud. Rain and mud. How come we have to sleep in tents!? The brits get bunks. And of course they set up the tents in the lowest part of the valley where the water pools."

"Would you shut up!? Some of us are trying to sleep." Tuff grumbles from across the tent.

"Oh, blow it out your hole." Snot responds as he pushes through the tent flaps to outside.

He wasn't kidding about the rain. It was pouring down in sheets, pounding against the leaves of the trees loudly and bouncing off the tent material. Taking a quick glance around at the other tents that house Delta Squad, Snotlout pulls his collar up, trying to keep the wetness from going down his neck as he sloshes through the mud and water to the nearby treeline. Fumbling with his pants, he finally gets to relieve himself.

No sooner has he started, the raid horns shriek through the silence of the breaking dawn. "Fuck." Snotlout grumbles as he forces out the remaining urine. Delta Squad members are piling out of their tents in various states of dress. Tuffnut wanders out in his tightie whities, completely alert.

Hiccup is out attempting to shout commands over the horns, getting his crew heading in the right direction towards their Spitfires.

"Come on! Get those birds in the air!" He shouts.

His voice is drowned out by the roar of Snotlout's engine as he is the first one to barrel down the runway. "Incoming. Twelve fighters. Four fighters."

He cuts left, avoiding incoming fire.

* * *

Hiccup is sprinting across the slick dirt, rain spattering against his face, pasting his hair to his forehead. Bullets tear in to the ground, kicking up dirt on impact. Hiccup tries dodging them in vain as he has no clue where the next one will land.

None hit him, but his Spitfire isn't as fortunate as the fuselage is peppered with holes. Liquid spills from underneath. Hiccup ignores the liquid and tries to start the engine. It coughs unsuccessfully. He's stuck on the ground. "Astrid. I'm grounded. You're in charge."

He steps out of the plane on to the edge of the cockpit and slams his flight helmet in to the seat.

Astrid gives a salute to Hiccup as she barrels down the runway, engine roaring loudly.

* * *

Astrid takes a deep breath. She was in charge now. Hiccup trusted her to run things while he was on the ground. She'd done that before. Without other planes trying to shoot them down. A 109 tears by her, nearly clipping her right side wing. Refocusing, she gets her head in the game. "Ruff, Tuff, distract the fighters. Snot, Ack wrangle up outside stragglers. Fish and Sven, you're on perimeter duty. The rest of you. On me. We have some bombers to gun down."

Astrid banks left, dodging an incoming fighter. "Tuff, take out that fighter."

"I'm on it." Tuff pipes up quickly. "You don't have to be so bossy about it." He mumbles under his breath.

"The mics can still pick you up when you mumble Butt Elf." Ruffnut laughs.

Astrid banks right, avoiding the gunfire from one of the bombers. "Cut out the unneeded chatter."

"Unneeded chatter is what this squadron is all about!" Snotlout explains.

"I hate to agree with Snotlout, but he's right." Starkard answers.

Astrid rolls her eyes as she pulls the trigger, guns blazing at the bomber. The plane explodes in a fiery death as a bullet pierces some of the payload.

"They're retreating!" Fishlegs cheers.

"Keep in check. We're not out of this yet." Astrid orders.

* * *

Snotlout stares down his crosshairs at the second bomber, rain impeding his vision. He pulls the trigger, unleashing a hail of fury that misses completely. He groans as he re-aims at the bomber. This time he pulls the trigger slowly this time, until the guns blaze again. Snotlout fires another burst, using the tracers to focus in his aiming. The wing explodes off the bomber and it plummets down in a plume of smoke.

Another bomber directly below it can't get out of the way quick enough and the two bombers collide in a massive explosive.

"Did you see that!? I got two for the price of one! Who's the king?! That's right it's me!" Snotlout cheers loudly.

"Great. Now he's going to be insufferable." Ruff groans loudly.

"I deserve to be insufferable after taking out not one but two bombers." Snotlout gloats.

"There's still another bomber. Gloat later!" Fishlegs growls.

"He doesn't stand a chance against the likes of me!" Snotlout brags as he throttles after the bomber, unnoticing of the retreating fighter planes.

He fires burst after burst at the bomber, missing for the most part except a few stray bullets that puncture the thin fuselage.

The echoing click of empty guns answers Snotlout as he continuously tries to fire. "I'm empty." He complains.

"Should have saved a few for the enemy." Ack teases.

A small trail of light grey smoke trails the bomber as it limps away. "Let em go. We have damage to assess." Astrid commands.

* * *

Hiccup waits near his Spitfire as his squad comes back down. They were the only planes that managed to take off. The Brits hadn't gotten a single plane in the air. Hiccup was proud at their success but the incompetence of the Brits made him weary. How would they win this war with such a lack in discipline? Every airbase couldn't be this bad could it? There must be some that were better managed than the one he happened to be stationed at.

A terrible crash tears Hiccup from his thoughts and he wheels around to look at the source. Tuffnut's Spitfire is lying on the runway on its belly with the landing gear folded underneath it. The engine stalled out and propeller broken. "Woah. Came in a little too hot."

Hiccup rolls his eyes as trucks are already on route to haul the fighter plane to the shop.

Snotlout strolls up to Hiccup with his chest puffed out. He takes notice of the fatal damage done to Hiccup's Spitfire. "Didn't see you up there."

"Had some plane issues. Engine wouldn't start." Hiccup answers irrelevantly as he knows that Snotlout knows the reason Hiccup being grounded.

"The Snot-man took care of it." Snotlout brags. "If I keep this up, you'll be able to go back to Berk sooner than expected."

"Unless you fly to Berlin and kill Hitler, we're going to continue needing Hiccup." Astrid answers from behind Snotlout.

"It's Commander Haddock, Astrid." Snotlout spouts in a lame attempt at getting her in trouble.

"That's Lieutenant Hofferson to you, Warrant Officer." Astrid hisses in a threat.

"We're all family here. Ranks are just a formality." Hiccup tries to ease the tension.

"What he said." Snotlout cowers under Astrid's firm gaze.

"Did you see those bombers explode!? Man what a beautiful sight!" Tuffnut cackles as he approaches the group.

"Report to maintenance. Get your plane fixed. Don't come in so hard next time." Hiccup orders him. "The rest of you, resume whatever you were doing. Clean up duty in the morning."

Everyone heads back for their tents. It's still raining but their spirits are high after the success they had. Astrid stays behind.

"Need something, Lieutenant?" Hiccup raises his infamous eyebrow.

"Thought ranks were just a formality?" Astrid teases him lightly.

That earns her a crooked Hiccup smile but no answer. She's fine with that as he's got a nice smile. "What will you do about your Spitfire?"

Hiccup looks over at the shot up black Spitfire. "I think I can fix it."

It's Astrid's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You're not serious are you?"

"100%. Now let's get out of the rain. If I have to die I'd rather do it in the air. Not snivelling in a bed from sickness." Hiccup motions towards their tents.

* * *

It's a slow walk back to the tents that is mostly quiet apart from the falling rain and sloshing of their military boots on the wet ground. They halt outside Astrid's tent that she shares with Ruffnut. Silence and tension between them. "Guess this is my tent." Astrid drawls, trying to continue their chat.

"Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be busy." Hiccup tells her with a smile.

She returns his smile with a shy smile of her own. She chalked up the feeling in her stomach to mutual respect for her commanding officer. Anything more than that would be seriously unprofessional of her.

She turns to head in to her tent. "Goodnight Astrid." Hiccup whispers as she disappears behind the flaps before heading for his own tent.

* * *

Hiccup was staring at his Spitfire with another young man next to him. This is Kyle Daniels. At twenty-two years old, he was one of the youngest mechanics on this airbase. He took great pride in his work. "I hate saying it, but I don't think it's fixable."

Hiccup's face scrunches in to a frown. This plane was his and he felt like leaving it behind was a terrible thing to do. "Unfixable? Nothing is truly unfixable."

"Not unfixable… but we don't have the spare parts for it. It's taken a lot of damage." Kyle tells him.

"What about my plane?!" Tuffnut shouts from across the bay.

"Find another mechanic. I don't fix stupid." Kyle shouts back. "Seriously, how do you handle him?"

"He's not so bad once you get to know him." Hiccup defends Tuff.

"I'll take your word on it." Kyle as he sniffs the air in habit. "I'll leave you at it. I'll check in with you later. Got some planes that need tending to. Small wounds and such."

Hiccup is left along.

* * *

Elbow deep in grease, Hiccup doesn't hear Astrid approach from behind him. "Everything's all cleaned up boss."

Startled, Hiccup jumps, smashing his head on the frame of the Spitfire. "Fuck."

He grumbles as he rubs the tender spot on his head, smearing his hair in oil.

Astrid holds back a giggle. "Someone's having fun."

"Gonna be grounded unless I can fix my plane." Hiccup pulls a part off the engine that has a clear bullet hole through it.

"Need a hand?"

"You'd use your free time to help me? This some kind of prank? Prank your officer day?" Hiccup is skeptical.

"No. Just miss you up there in the air. Less pressure on me when you're running things."

"Hand me that wrench on the table?" She complies and hands him the wrench.

* * *

Hours passed but Hiccup and Astrid managed to pull any parts from the engine that had bullet holes in it. "What now?"

"You fix the minor damaged ones and get replacements from the storage crates. Although getting it airborne again will be quite the task." Kyle Daniels pipes up from behind them.

"You must be the lovely Astrid." He kisses her hand lightly in a very chivalrous way causing her to blush. "You're Spitfire, Stormfly, is one of my favourites here. Painted her myself." He adds proudly.

"You painted my plane?" Astrid is astonished. The paint job was superb and so different from all the other Spitfires. None of them were even uniform to the others. Each had their own paint scheme and personality to go with it.

"I did more than paint her. I took that baby all apart and done a lot of tinkering. She's the fastest one on this base. She used to be second fastest. This baby here had the honor of being the fastest." He motions to the dilapidated black plane before them.

Astrid's mind is still stuck on the name. Stormfly. There had to be a story behind it. "How come Stormfly?"

Kyle's face lights up. "Back when she was a fresh plane here with no dog fights under her belt we had a pilot, Jimmy Cullins that would fly only the newest planes. Never stuck with one plane. Always changing it up." Astrid noticed that Kyle was much like Hiccup when he spoke. Constantly moving his hands when talking about something passionate.

"The first day that Stormfly was here, he claimed her. Took to the sky before anyone could deny him the privilege. What Jimmy failed to realize was the storm coming in. One of the worst I've ever seen." Kyle pauses his story, allowing his listeners to grow impatient.

"He flew through the storm didn't he?" Tuffnut speaks up in awe. He had been listening from behind some crates and now he couldn't contain himself anymore. Jimmy Cullins was his new hero. "If Jimmy still around or did they transfer him?"

"Jimmy Cullins is dead. But yes. You could say that he flew her in the storm. But anyone who was there that day would say that she flew herself." Kyle tells them.

That confuses Tuffnut's simple mind. "Come again?"

"Jimmy took Stormfly to the skies and that storm came barreling in. The lightning was insane. Like Thor was pissed off at the world. While Jimmy was landing the plane, a bolt struck his plane. She was smoking when she landed on the runway and drifted to a stop." Kyle shifts his eyes away from them as he stares out at the runway.

When they managed to get the cockpit open, Jimmy was smoking. Fried by that big ol lightning bolt and very, very dead. Doctors say that he was dead when the bolt struck. But that would mean that Stormfly landed herself. Which is either amazing or blind dumb luck. I believe that there's a little of both there." Kyle finishes up his story and scratches at his nose.

"You had a dead guy in your cockpit? That is… FUCKING AMAZING!" Tuffnut exclaims to Astrid. "I gotta tell Ruffnut." He bolts away from them, heading towards the low valley of Delta Squads tents.

"Stormfly." Astrid says again. "I like it."

* * *

The hours fly by as both Kyle and Hiccup discuss repairs to Hiccup's Spitfire. No mention of a name for that one. It's as if Kyle was nervous of speaking of it.

Once back together they try the engine. But nothing. Discouraged, Hiccup vows not to give up hope. Meanwhile Kyle stays quiet.

The supper alarm sounds, and they leave their tools with the plane.

"Does it bother you?" Hiccup asks Kyle as he sets down his tray.

Kyle raises an eyebrow. "Does what bother me?"

"When you lose a plane." Hiccup explains cautiously. He might be overstepping his boundaries. He had only known Kyle for a few days.

Kyle frowns. "Should it bother me?"

Hiccup shifts uncomfortably. "Just thought since you had them all named. Forget I said anything."

* * *

Walking back to his tent, Hiccup slows as he spots a shadow near his plane. He squints in the fading sunlight to see to see better. There is someone there. Who the hell would be around a shot up Spitfire. He was about to yell but this was a time of war. What if that figure turned out to be an enemy spy. Or worse a saboteur. He couldn't risk it.

Crouching, he rushes his way towards his plane. Hiding behind some crates, Hiccup takes a deep breath. He really didn't want to get shot by a startled spy or even a friendly. Peering over the top of the crates he could see the lonesome figure standing next to the Spitfire's wing.

What were they doing? It looked like they were caressing his plane. Could they be planting a bomb?

They spoke and Hiccup could just barely make out the words. "I'm sorry this is the end, Windwalker. Hiccup is a good fella with great intentions but there's very little chance that he will get you back in the sky… You were always my favourite…"

Hiccup recognized the voice. It was Kyle. He really cared about his planes. Even more than he cared about people. What Hiccup was witnessing was something private and intimate. Something that he shouldn't see. He almost felt ashamed at hiding there and listening. He needed to leave.

Pushing off the crates, Hiccup heads for his tent.

* * *

Hiccup gets in to his tent and pulls his shirt off. It's still wet and he couldn't wait to get in to something that was dry for a change. He hangs it up on a hook.

"Hiccup?"

"Jesus!" Hiccup rounds around, wide eyed and startled. "Astrid! What are you doing in here!?" Hiccup is panicking. What is she doing in here? Why had he taken off his shirt without looking around? Now he was bare chested with his second in command sitting in his chair. This would look bad if the wrong person walked in. What would he tell them? So many things going through his head.

Astrid tries to avert her eyes but it's insanely hard to talk to someone without looking at them and so she glanced up at him periodically as she spoke. "I was waiting to debrief after the mission. I… I didn't think you'd start stripping as soon as you got back…"

Astrid would deny it if anyone asked her but Hiccup looked good shirtless. She jumps up off the chair. "I'll just come back tomorrow."

"No!" Hiccup practically shouts before regaining calmness. "No. It's fine. We can debrief tonight."

He struggles in to a new shirt. "There see. Fully dressed." He holds his arms out from his body as if she didn't just watch him throw a shirt on.

"Are you sure? I can always come back."

"I'm sure." Hiccup nods.

* * *

The debriefing is short and to the point but afterwards Hiccup and Astrid chat long in to the night. About their families and their ambitions.

"There's no way your dad did that!" Astrid exclaims.

"He did. He ate the entire turkey himself. Mom wasn't happy. But a man that size. Of course he could do it. And dad was never one to back down from a challenge. Especially from Gobber." Hiccup laughed.

Hiccup suddenly realizes how close they were sitting. His knee was brushing against hers. Blood rushed to his face as he felt his ears beginning to burn. He had to end this now before things went too far but at the same time he felt like he didn't want the night to end as he had no idea what the morning would bring.

Glancing back up in to her eyes, Hiccup's gaze flashed to her lips for a split second. Mentally chastising himself, he forced his eyes back to hers. Her beautiful blues that he found himself getting lost in like a sailor would get lost in the ocean after going overboard.

"I… um…" He stole another look at her pink lips. "We should get to bed. But not together! I mean we should sleep…" Hiccup groans at his inability to play it cool.

"Yeah! I should be going! It's late. Early to rise. Haha." Astrid fakes a laugh then follows it up with a forced yawn.

Hiccup jumps to his feet, bumping his head against hers. "Ow."

His eyes shoot wide. "I am soooo sorry! I can't believe I just did that."

He walks her to the tent door and holds the flaps aside for her to leave. "Goodnight, Lieutenant." He says in an attempt to make things more formal and less awkward.

"Goodnight Commander Hiccup... I mean Commander Haddock." Astrid jumbles up her words and corrects herself with a horrified look on her face.

She shuffles away quickly to avoid any more awkwardness.

She slips in to her own tent and is greeted almost instantly. "Well well well. Cinderella, did you not realize that it's past midnight?" Ruffnut drawls.

"Shut up Ruff." Astrid scolds.

"Did you bed the Prince well Cinderella?" Ruffnut teases with a huge smirk on her face.

"It was a debriefing." Astrid insists as she gets ready for bed.

Ruffnut refuses to let up. "Oh. I didn't realize the Commander was a briefs kinda guy."

"Go to sleep Ruff." Astrid crawls in to her bunk.

"Is the Commander hung? I bet he his. I mean he isn't exactly huge in size so all his food must go somewhere right?" Ruffnut is persistent.

"I don't know. And if I did, I would not have this conversation with you." Astrid tells her as she rolls away from the twin.

"Think he'd want a threesome? I'd do that scrawny little fishbone." Ruffnut starts fantasizing. She just can't shut up, Astrid groans to herself. "Goodnight Ruff."

Ruff keeps talking but Astrid tunes her out as she fades off to sleep. The last thoughts going through her mind are of a bare chest and deep intense green eyes.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally got Chapter 7 finished up. I felt like I left some stuff out that could have been added in but I also felt like I made you guys wait long enough. Hope you all like it and hope to hear what you guys think. Always love getting reviews and comments, or even PM's. They're basically what keeps me writing when I start feeling overwhelmed. That being said, I'm working on a feature film called Still The Water as part of the camera crew and will be working crazy hours starting next week so hopefully I can find some time to keep writing. Sorry for the long waits in between chapters. I know how frustrating it can be when you get in to a story that takes forever to update. I'd also like to credit robbiekiwi for the character of Kyle Daniels. Until next time, cheers. Hope you like it.**

 **LG**


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